Huntik: Secrets and Seekers – No Rest for the Wicked
by TheChronicler137
Summary: The Blood Spirals have been defeated, the Betrayer has been destroyed forever, and the Red Comet is no more. But there's no rest for the wicked. The Spiral Mark still burns with dark power, most of the Spirals still live, and the Huntik Foundation and the Casterwills are going to need some help from another player in the game to save the world from the forces of Chaos…again.
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

**A/N This story may contain Aristotelico-Thomistic metaphysics, strives for accuracy, consistency and plausibility as far as possible, was written by an incurable romantic, and portrays the Roman Catholic Church in a strongly positive light. In those respects, it's sort of like an anti-Da Vinci Code. If any readers have aversions to the above, please discontinue.**

_Amazon Jungle  
South America  
One month after the Spiral Mark Incident_

Lok walked to the edge of a cliff, and lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun, Sophie, Den, and Zhalia following behind, and Harrison crashing through the brush shortly after.

"Remember," Zhalia said behind him.

"It's Dante's birthday in a few days' time. We need to find Solwing and get back to HQ by then."

When Legion was slain, the Titans he had assimilated were released, their amulets reforming all over the world. (A/N Non-canon. The Titans actually returned to the Spirit World, Huntik. Sorry.) The Foundation suddenly had to deal with an influx of over a thousand new amulets, and had dispatched agents to hunt them down before the Organisation or, God forbid, the Spirals, the majority of which were still at large, did.

The number of amulets released may have appeared enormous, but in actuality many of them were lost due to being dropped into the ocean or extremely hostile terrain. Nonetheless, it was, for a while, markedly easier than normal for Seekers to find amulets. However, as time went by, the remaining number of amulets dwindled, but, not knowing the identity of the Titans at large, the Foundation prioritised apprehending every last one, lest a powerful Titan fall into the wrong hands.

It was Zhalia who had broken into the Foundation records at the Spiral Mark Laboratory (recently built in order to study the unusual pulsations of energy still being emitted from the Spiral Mark, and also to cover it up), instead of simply asking nicely, as was her way, and using the data there from a subproject which analysed the aftermath of Legion's destruction. She cross-referenced it with Dante's personal records (which she also hacked) and inferred the most likely location where the amulet of Dante's former Titan Solwing would have formed.

And it was Zhalia who had persuaded the Lok to dispatch the Huntik Foundation's top team to the middle of the Amazon Jungle to hunt down Solwing, a weak Titan who was worth less trouble than the mission.

"Geez, Zhalia, calm down. We'll get there and back in time," Lok said.

"Yes, Zhalia. Why the hurry?" Sophie asked, and muffled a slight giggle.

This, unfortunately, didn't escape Zhalia.

"I—" she blushed deeply (a rare occasion) and turned away.

She cleared her throat and recovered. "Dante's been our mentor for so long. He sacrificed himself to save us from the Red Comet. He's always been there for us. I just think he at least deserves a birthday treat from us, that's all."

"Would that treat be the everlasting love of a certain pretty raven-haired girl?" Lok teased.

Zhalia's eyes flared with rage, and she launched a Raypulse at Lok's feet.

"Whoa!"

Everyone turned to her.

She stared at her feet.

"Let's just find that Titan."

* * *

The incident was soon forgotten.

"It's a good thing the amulet shouldn't be too heavily guarded," Lok reasoned.

"No traps or anything. The amulets just fell randomly out of the sky. And I don't think anyone would go so far out of their way to find Solwing."

"Then I suppose we should thank our lucky stars Solwing didn't fall into the sea, since seventy percent of the planet's covered in water," Sophie said.

Lok chuckled.

Zhalia walked behind the enthusiastically chatting leader of the team and his sort-of girlfriend.

She was still upset over that little bit of ribbing from Lok and Sophie.

_So what if I like Dante?_

_Just look at them!_

Lok and Sophie were interacting so naturally that he had put an arm around her shoulders without either noticing it. Each was engrossed in conversation with the other.

She turned around to see Den and Harrison (who, lacking any other place to go, willingly tagged along with his brother and best friend), talking, laughing and playing. Bros just being bros.

She looked down and sighed.

_I wish Dante were still here._

_ I wish I had the old team back._

_ I mean, there's nothing wrong with Den and Harrison, and I'm really happy for Dante, but…_

_ I guess now I'm just the third wheel._

_ Fifth wheel, whatever._

_ No-one to talk to in times like this._

She felt two talons clamp gently around her shoulder.

"Why so moody?" Cherit rasped.

_No-one except him_, she sighed internally.

"Well, I—"

She was interrupted by a sharp pain on her forearm.

She instinctively grabbed it, and pushed up her sleeve.

The accursed tattoo was glowing faintly.

She turned to the brothers, who seem to have noticed the same thing.

"Lok!" cried Cherit.

Sophie giggled at something Lok said.

"And then I—huh?"

They turned around.

"Spirals," Zhalia said, still clutching her arm.

"They're close."

* * *

Lok, Sophie, Zhalia, Harrison and Den peeked out from the bushes.

"Silent Soldiers," Sophie whispered. "Five of them."

"Could've been worse," Lok remarked.

"And there's the amulet," Zhalia pointed out.

"Sophie, are you detecting any magic other than the amulet?" Lok asked.

Sophie closed eyes and placed her hands on her temples.

"No. Nothing," she said, after a while.

"So then what are they doing here?" Cherit mused. "Lok, you yourself said that there's nothing special about Solwing."

"Never mind," Lok said, "we'll just knock them out and bring them home. Sophie can question them with Oathmaker when we get back."

Sophie smiled at him.

_He remembered!_

_ Oh, good heavens, he remembered!_

_ I mention a new power in passing to him, and he remembers! Yet he forgets half the syllabus during his examinations!_

"Hold on," said Den. "We haven't encountered any Spirals since the incident. I'm pretty sure the Foundation is gonna want to look into this."

"Good call," Lok nodded as he dialled HQ.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dante!"

"Lok! Where are you guys? What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. We're just on a mission to recover another one of the Legion Titans, at Zhalia's behest."

Dante felt something swelling in him at the mention of her name.

Zhalia blushed and smacked his arm. Sophie giggled.

"Good," he said. "But that's not an occasion that warrants a call."

"We ran into some Silent Soldiers. I think we should interrogate them."

"Blood Spirals? Interesting. They've been extremely quiet after the Spiral Mark Incident. If they're up to something, it'll probably be something big."

"Yeah. But we walked into the middle of the Amazon Jungle. I don't think we can drag five Silent Soldiers out that easily."

"Alright, hold on," Dante said. "Silent Soldiers, especially now, warrant a Scramjet. From your coordinates, I'd give it about an hour."

"Got it," Lok said.

He kept his phone.

"OK, here's the plan," Lok said.

"Dante wants to interrogate the Silent Soldiers, so we'll need to capture them. Everyone cast Darkfog, then go in and knock them out quick with Darksleep or Dragonfist or Touchram. Cherit, you stand guard. We might not be able to see out of our own Darkfog, so we'll need you to watch out for enemy reinforcements."

"OK," Cherit nodded.

"Sophie, cast Breakspell to dispel the fog. Then Zhalia can grab the amulet (Her expression darkened slightly as a mischievous grin crossed Lok's face), and the Foundation's got a Scramjet coming to pick us and them up. All clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright everyone, on three. One, two…"

"DARKFOG!"

A black-green mist enveloped the Silent Soldiers, taking them entirely by surprise.

"Go!" hissed Lok.

Cherit heard a few thuds and grunts, and then, "Breakspell!"

There was a brilliant flash of blue as the mist faded, revealing five unconscious Silent Soldiers.

Zhalia grabbed the amulet, and Lok and Sophie high-fived, as did Den and Harrison.

"Got it," Zhalia said.

"Well, guys," Lok said, walking towards a tree.

"Dragonfist!" he cried, cutting off some vines.

"Guess all that's left to do is to babysit these guys in a tropical rainforest for an hour," he said, tying one up with the vines.

There were a few grumbles of protest.

* * *

_Dante's House  
Venice, Italy  
A few days later_

Dante returned home, and flipped on the lights.

"Zhalia, I'm ba—"

"SURPRISE!"

A smile slowly came to Dante's face.

He looked around. His mentor Metz was here, along with Sophie, Lok (Cherit perched on his arm), Den, Harrison, Foundation officer Guggenheim, Sophie's friend Lady of the Lake Viviane and her guardians, White and Mallory, her guardians Santiago and LeBlanche, her brother Lucas, his teammates Lane and Dellix, Dante's friend and the Foundation's second-best operative Montehue and his partner Tersly, Lok's former babysitter Scarlet, and, of course, Zhalia.

"Whoa, guys, the Foundation-Casterwill strike force was due at the Spiral Mark a month ago, not in my house!"

There was a bout of laughter.

Dante's eyes fell on the raven-haired girl at the back of the crowd.

_Zhalia_, he smiled warmly.

_She's actually smiling!_

He smiled back at her, as her eyes twinkled.

He saw her whisper something.

_Time to put that one lesson on lip-reading to good use!_

He frowned.

_Did she say…Logosbook?_

He looked at the coffee table in his living room. Sure enough, the familiar book on it, which he had little occasion to use since the Blood Spirals had been defeated, glowed blue.

He walked over as the party went into full swing without him.

Sophie cut in front of him.

"Happy birthday, Dante!" she cried, briefly hugging her mentor and friend.

Dante nodded.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you, for helping us all become great Seekers and, y'know, save the world. You're like a father to me, Dante. And I'm glad you've always been there for me, and Lok, and…Zhalia."

The way she said Zhalia's name was highly suspicious. Dante even thought he saw a small mischievous smile form on her lips.

"Sophie," Dante said, somewhat sternly, "thank you, but what's with…Zhalia?"

Her grin was now more noticeable.

_Dante's showing hesitation to say Zhalia's name!_

"Well, this whole surprise thing was her idea," she said, not really answering the question.

_Her idea?_

_ Not really her style…_

Nonetheless, Sophie had unwittingly reminded him of Zhalia's spell.

"Excuse me," he said, walking towards the coffee table.

Sophie's smile widened.

He flipped to the last page.

_Meet me on the roof_.

He smiled as he headed down the corridor, holding the book.

The master Seeker didn't notice Sophie following shortly behind.

* * *

"Zhalia," Dante said, drawing the beautiful woman, who still retained her air of mystery, away from the edge of the rooftop, from which she watched gondolas patrolling the canals of Venice.

"Dante," she smiled, as he took her hand.

He felt a tingling in his hand, almost a tangible glow, and the solid feel of a familiar shape.

He looked at the amulet that she had slipped him.

_Solwing…_

_ A young Dante happily skipped across a river, bouncing on the stepping-stones, as Solwing flapped behind him, perching on his arm when he paused half-way through._

The memory segued to another scene.

_"You'll have to catch me," Dante taunted Rassimov, his characteristic, ever-present confident smile still on his lips._

_ And then, out of the blue, his first Titan swooped down and snatched the amulet away._

_ "Solwing!" he cried, genuinely alarmed, as he turned towards it._

_ He reached out an arm in futility as Solwing flapped away._

_ "Legion," growled Rassimov, "get that Titan!"_

_ "Stop!" Dante shouted._

_ "Solwing, return!"_

_ He turned to see Harrison, Rassimov and Legion running after Solwing._

_ He was about to pursue them when Ariel grasped his shoulder, restraining him._

_ He realised what he had to do._

_ "We have to get everyone to a Huntik Foundation hospital quickly."_

_ Solwing fled further and further as the two Spirals launched Nullcurses at it._

_ A lucky shot blasted the bird out of the sky, allowing it to be caught, and subsequently consumed, by Legion. Forever._

_ Or so he thought, at the time._

"Thank you," he whispered, voice swelling with emotion.

She smiled.

"Happy birthday, Dante Vale."

Dante noticed her outfit, originally shielded from his view by the throngs of guests downstairs.

She was decked in a sparkling pure midnight-blue strapless dress dotted with sequins, which was the same hue as her gorgeous raven hair.

"Zhalia…" he whispered again, breathless at her stunning beauty.

"Listen, Dante, I know we may have started out as…" she sighed, "I know I wasn't part of this team in the beginning…that I lied to you…betrayed you…"

She stared down at her shoes, which matched the hue of her dress and hair.

She felt a strong but soft touch on her delicate chin.

"Zhalia…" he said gently, lifting her head.

She gazed into his amber eyes, as tears welled in her hazelnut ones, his tenderness the most effective interrogation technique she had ever witnessed.

This was the man that she cared about, that she _loved_, more than anyone else in the world. Dante or Cherit, or perhaps Lok or even Sophie might have cut in and said that didn't mean much, but she would have struck them down there and then (except for Dante). She _did_ care for him, with a noble, immense, passionate love of eternal devotion.

_This is the noblest thing I've ever done. The noblest thing I'll ever do._

_To love Dante._

_Truly._

_ Completely._

_ Absolutely._

"You've always been so sweet to me," she whispered, "you trusted me, but I repaid you with a knife in the back. Even then…when I ran away from the Organisation to you…you…"

As their gazed remained locked, both were transported back to that magical moment, which seemed an eternity ago.

_Thunder rumbled outside._

_ "Dante," she said, barely able to compose her speech, her usual icy-cold demeanour and confidence absent. Dante's jacket clung to her shoulders, almost as though it was a phantom embrace from him._

_ She put down her teacup. She was on the very verge of physically trembling._

_ "I'm so sorry," she whispered, moving close to Dante as his arms encircled her._

_ She rested her head against his strong, broad shoulder._

_ "Zhalia," he reassured her, "It's alright. Everything's alright now. You're with friends."_

_ "Dante," she whispered again, as she emerged from his embrace._

_ He smiled._

_ She smiled back._

_ They moved closer…_

"You mean more to me than anything else in the world," she whispered.

The sentence echoed at the back of his mind.

"_Dante! Don't…_" he faintly remembered Sophie say.

"_For Metz!_" the Professor had rasped shortly after.

_She endangered the entire world; she risked giving the Professor ultimate power, all…for me?_

Another memory passed between the two of them.

_Zhalia cradled Dante, mentally incapacitated, in her arms, as the ground shook under the footsteps of two Undergolem Titans._

_ "Dante…" she whispered._

_ "I wanted to tell you, when we met, I acted tough, but really, I was weak, until you…"_

"Don't you see, Dante? You're everything to me. I _need _you. And…and when I left the team…to infiltrate the Blood Spirals…when I left you…I…"

She fell into his embrace once more, and her warm tears ran down his familiar jacket as he gently patted her back. The guest of honour of the party stood out like a sore thumb in his usual Seeker attire.

"And when you died," she sobbed, "…and…and came back…I…I felt like the happiest girl in the world," she said, pressing the side of her head against his jacket, eyes squeezed shut, tears streaming down her face. "But…but there's something I forgot to do that day."

They faced each other as he held her.

"Logosbook," she whispered weakly, emotionally drained.

He flipped it open.

_I love you_.

A smile slowly came to his lips as she averted his gaze, but he could see the shadow of a smile on her lips too, as her tears began to dry.

And they kissed.

Dante Vale, for all his experience fighting evil, never had time for personal relationships. The elite Seeker had been training since he was a child, those hours not spent on studies as a straight-A student or cracking cases as a PI occupied with bettering his skills. Now and then he'd try to take a break, but having been in isolation from the world for so long, he spent his free time alone. The handsome ace Seeker had no trouble attracting the attention of the ladies, but, not knowing how to handle said attention, would simply brush it off and 'focus on the mission'.

And Zhalia Moon, orphan, abandoned and unloved, had known no-one other than Klaus on a personal basis. Everyone else was a target, an idiot colleague, or the public, from whom she had to mask her powers. That is, until she infiltrated the Foundation team. She had come to know Lok as a sort of brother, Sophie as a target of her limitless disdain, but also as an actual, specific _person_ to disdain, rather than a member of a generic crowd of morons, all of whom deserved her hate equally. And Dante…she knew Dante as a friend, but so much more than that. "_Is this love?_"she would ask herself. "_Is this what they talk about in movies?_" He made her feel almost like how Klaus had made her feel: safe, secure, wanted, _loved_, but so much more. Loved not as a child, but as a _woman_.

And so it came to be, that these two heroes, who had saved the world together twice, fell deeply in love with each other, neither willing to physically admit it, or always being interfered with when they attempted to. And finally, finally, when the forces of evil had at long last been defeated, they could reveal to each other their truest, deepest feelings, holding each other, lips locked in a timeless embrace, a universal symbol of romantic love, longing and passion.

Sophie peeked out at them from behind the door.

_My goodness!_

She pulled away and leaned against the wall, and smiled faintly.

_They'll never hear the end of it from the rest of us!_

_ Wait till I tell Lok!_

Something seized upon her.

_Lok…_

_ "Sophie, I know we're from different worlds, sorta like Solomon and Sheba. But I don't want us to end up like them…never having the chance…to be together," he said, as he reached out his hand._

_ Trembling with joy, she took his hand, as they were bathed in a brilliant flash of light._

_ Dammit, Sophie,_ she slapped herself gently.

_I love him, so very much, so why didn't I just kiss him!?_

_ Now look at Dante and Zhalia, just smooching away over the waterways of Venice! Ungh!_

_ Why didn't _he_ kiss me? I can tell he likes me. He only managed to invoke the Legendary Titan of Champions to_ _protect_ me_! He's a true knight, chivalrous, gallant, and courageous. He's never hesitated to stand between me and any threat. So why didn't he…_

Her thoughts wandered back to something that happened a week or so back.

She had found one of her old literature texts, Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet_, displaced from its regular position in the study. Instead of being on the shelf, it lay open on the study table, turned to Act 2, Scene 2.

_The boys are at it again_, she thought, mildly irate, as she replaced the book. Fortunately (for Lok and Cherit), they didn't seem to have broken or moved anything else.

But when she passed by Lok's room, she saw a scrap of paper on the table next to his bed. Something told her to investigate.

She turned it over.

_Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye__  
Than twenty of their swords_

_Oh, silly me! The poor boy is head over heels in love with me. But he doesn't dare…_

She sighed.

_But I can't…_

"Well, we'd better go, before the others suspect something," Dante's voice interrupted the spying Casterwill's contemplation.

Sophie gasped faintly and prepared to make herself scarce.

"Wait," Zhalia grabbed his arm.

"Huh?"

"Why do we have to hide this? It's the best thing I've done in my life."

She looked down at her shoes again.

"One of the only things I'm not ashamed of."

Dante held her, and kissed her again.

"Alright, Zhalia."

As the couple returned into the house, Dante noticed Sophie nearby, who desperately tried to disguise her spying, brisk-walking away whistling.

"Sophie," Dante called.

_Uh-oh._

"Yes?" she asked, blushing faintly and turning around hesitantly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, nothing. No-nothing. Just passing by, you know."

She about-faced and resumed her brisk-walking at an accelerated pace.

Neither Dante nor Sophie noticed Zhalia shooting her a dirty look.

* * *

"Lok!" Sophie cried, pulling him away from a conversation with Metz about his father.

"Whoa, Sophie, slow down! What's the hurry?"

"In here!" she yanked him into Dante's study.

"What's going on?" he asked, confused.

"You won't believe what's just happened! Dante and Zhalia kissed!"

"What—"

They heard a clinking noise.

"Come on," Sophie hissed, as they emerged from the study.

Dante was tapping a spoon against a glass, drawing everyone's attention.

"Hear, hear," he said.

The guest of honour had changed into a more appropriate tuxedo. Standing beside him was the gorgeous lady in midnight blue, her arm locked around his.

"I'm not here to propose a toast," Dante said, "but rather to make official that, after almost half a lifetime of training to fight the forces of evil and subsequently doing so, I believe I have finally found, in the beautiful and incredibly talented Miss Zhalia Moon (She looked away, mildly embarrassed; no-one had ever complimented her that way before), true love."

There was a round of applause.

A smile slowly grew on Zhalia's face as she slowly turned back to look upon the mass of cheering guests, and she felt a warm glow within.

_They're clapping._

_ Clapping for me._

_ For _us.

_They're clapping for me, the little girl who was never loved, never appreciated, never seen as a person._

_ Clapping for me, the cruel Organisation agent who betrayed her only real friends._

But finally, with Dante by her side, and true, undying love between them, she was complete. All was forgiven, by her allies, but far more importantly, by herself.

Their love was the great ablution, the final penance which absolved her sins.

"Zhalia was originally a member of the Organisation who infiltrated us. She was trained and raised by the Organisation scientist Klaus. But as I worked with her, and got to know her, I came to see that, despite her shady background, she was a good person at heart. And even more than that, though I was not willing to admit it, I fell in love with her, for all her flaws and shortcomings. And it is with immense gladness that I say that she, too, loves me."

"Bravo!" clapped Metz, laughing, as the room burst into applause and celebration.

"Congratulations, Dante!" cried his mentor, shaking his hand eagerly.

"Do I hear wedding bells?" he ribbed his student.

"Yes," said Zhalia, to the surprise of both mentor and student.

_One more thing needs to be done before we are truly one._

"What?" Metz and Dante asked simultaneously.

_One more thing before all is absolved._

"Dante," she asked, quietly and tenderly.

"Yes?" Dante asked, himself beginning to tear up ("I never thought I'd see the day," muttered Metz).

_One more thing before I can begin again, free from my past._

"Will you marry me?"

Dante's incredulous smile grew.

No-one had seen him so genuinely happy (A/N I'm having difficulty picturing it myself).

"Yes!" he cried, ecstatic, hugging his new fiancée. Most of the guests had no idea what was going on (the conversation was held privately with Metz), but they were quick to infer.

She hugged him back, equally exuberant.

And they kissed, once more, in plain sight of the entire congregation of guests.

Montehue, not willing to be bested, stood up.

"And I have something to declare too!"

"Oh, Montehue," said Dante, his composure regained, one arm around Zhalia's slender waist.

"Will you _ever_ give up?"

Montehue ignored his rival.

"About a month ago, in the great Seeker battle at the Spiral Mark, I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Scarlet Byrne. Since then, I've greatly enjoyed her company, and the several dates we've had together. So, Scarlet," he took the hand of the pretty, flirtatious Seeker, who was, like Zhalia, garbed in a fine dress, and knelt before her.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice weak with anticipation.

"Will you…er, hold on."

Montehue fished about in his pocket for something, eliciting several hastily (and often incompletely) suppressed bouts of laughter from the other guests.

He cleared his throat. "Will you marry me?" he asked, presenting her a ring.

She cried out in joy.

"Of course," she laughed, kissing the large Seeker.

"Ha!" Montehue guffawed, and slipped the ring (which was actually a recently-recovered artefact of his) on her finger, as another round of celebrations occurred amongst the guests.

He turned to Dante, a look of triumph on his face.

Dante sighed, shaking his head while smiling.

"Well, glad she's out of the picture," muttered Sophie.

"Did you say something?" Lok asked.

"Um…uh…" Sophie blushed and stammered, averting his gaze.

"Sophie, what's wrong?" Lok sensed something was amiss. He and Sophie may have gotten off to a rough start, but they quickly got close to each other, and as time went by, found it easier to act naturally around each other than around other people. They were good friends. The last time he had seen her being this hesitant was all the way back in King Solomon's Mines.

_"Hey, Sophie…"_

_ "Uh-huh?"_

_"Listen. I've been thinking about what you said when we were down in Atlantis…and…"_

_"Uh…I've been thinking about it too…you know, you never told me how you felt…"_

And before that, with Scarlet herself…

_"Shall we?" Lok took Scarlet's hand, something he would come to regret doing later._

_"HEY! What's _that_ all about!?" Sophie shouted._

_"Sophie," Lok turned, "is something wrong?"_

_"I…uh…uh…Sorry, I don't know what came over me," the elegant young lady regained her composure._

And later, while they stood guard…

_"Sophie, can I ask you something?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_"That thing you said before…you know, about me and Scarlet, holding hands…"_

_"I don't know…I was just being stupid."_

_The Casterwill's composure was notably disturbed._

_She was dragging her foot in the dirt._

_"Sophie?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_"You don't have to be jealous of her…or anything. I really…"_

Lok would later find the perfect words to describe the feeling that seized upon him then a few weeks before this day, when he finally bothered to pick up a book, for Sophie's sake:

_Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye  
Than twenty of their swords_

She had him tongue-tied. And before he could recover, they were assaulted by Suits.

_And that slip of paper, I…_

The remarkable appropriateness of those lines to his situation had warranted him scribbling it down on a scrap of paper. But one day he realised it was marked with distinctive pleasant scent. Sophie's scent. One that had never before graced his pigsty of a room.

_So…_

"_You're the one who keeps _me_ going,_" he recalled her saying in Atlantis.

He remembered the delicate softness of her fine porcelain skin as she slipped her fingers between his when they were in Solomon's Mines, he remembered the gentle warmth of her body against his as she fell into his embrace, or wrapped him in hers, countless times before…

_She knows I like her. But she's afraid, too…_

_Why didn't I kiss her!? I can't even _talk_ to her about this now!_

He mustered all his courage.

_It's crazy! The mighty Champion of the Casterwills, who defeated the Professor and the Betrayer, can't talk to a girl!_

"Listen," he gently touched her cheek, turning her head so she would face him, "Sophie, I…"

Lok was interrupted by someone clearing her throat.

"Sophie, I'd like to speak with you for a moment," Zhalia said. Her voice had an icy edge.

Neither had any wish to mess with her.

_Dammit! We finally get rid of the Organisation and the Spirals, and just when I get the perfect opportunity, Zhalia gets in the way!_

She shot a mischievously evil look at him as she led Sophie somewhere else.

"Findshape," she said to him, barely audible.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Lok understood.

_ "Why are you two looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?"_

"Sorry," he mouthed, blushing.

"We're even," she mouthed back.

Lok sucked in his breath and punched a cushion on a chair.

_Another missed opportunity!_

He fell back into said chair and sighed, the valour he had mustered abandoning him.

"_I love you, Sophie!_" he screamed inside. But she was already gone.

_I don't know how much longer I can stay like this. I love her, and she loves me…I think…but still we never have the chance to be together._

_Every second without her hurts. But…_

Shakespeare's words echoed within his mind once more.

He sighed, softly, longingly whispering her name.

* * *

"Ugh, there's too much romance going on!" said Den.

"Yeah, look at that! _Zhalia_!" laughed Harrison.

The boy had been scarred by his servitude to the Blood Spirals, but Zhalia's and his brother's close companionship, and lots of missions for the good guys, helped make up for it. He had integrated well with the rest of the Foundation in the one month since he had officially joined it.

"And _Dante_!" Den smiled.

The siblings were filled with a childish urge to tease those who had served as parent-figures (of a sort) to them during the tumultuous events leading up to the Blood Spiral Incident about their romantic relations.

"Yeah, and—"

"Oof! WHOA!" Den cried as he bumped into someone.

"Aah!" cried a girl's voice.

Harrison helped his brother up, as he saw a cute orange-haired girl being similarly helped up by two men.

He gently brushed off his brother's hand, while uttering thanks.

The girl straightened her hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Den apologised.

"I think you spilt some punch on your dress," he said.

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

"Oh," Den blushed slightly, scratching his head, "I don't think we've met before."

"We haven't," she said, with a polished English accent, not unlike Sophie's, as she cleaned her pretty dress.

"I'm Viviane Casterwill, Lady of the Lake," she extended her hand, blushing mildly.

"Den Fears," he shook her hand. "I go on adventures with a certain Sophie Casterwill. Do you know her?"

"Yes, I do know Miss Sophie," she said. "You get to go on adventures with her? It must be exciting!"

"Oh, it is," Den smiled. "Let me tell you about the time…"

Den and Viviane continued chatting, leaving Harrison on his own.

"Too much romance," he grumbled.

* * *

"What were you doing!?" hissed Zhalia, the teasing tone she had used with Lok fading, and her cold temper flaring.

"Doing? What do you mean?" Sophie asked, smiling coyly and mischievously.

"Oh, I know what you did, Little Miss Honourable," she hissed, her voice venomous. "You were spying on Dante and I, weren't you!?"

"No need to get so worked up, Zhalia. I thought we were friends," her smile remained.

She ignored her.

"What I do with my fiancé is my business, understand!? So keep your little Casterwill nose out of it, Sophie!"

Sophie was silent.

_Fiancé._

Zhalia_'s_ _getting _married_, and I've never even gotten a kiss from anyone!_

She sighed inside.

_But I suppose it's my fault too._

_ Lok's a hero, and he's my friend, but…he doesn't dare to talk to me about how he feels, how _I _feel, not to mention _kiss_ me._

"_I don't want us to be like Solomon and Sheba either, Lok,_" she imagined herself saying.

"_But I_…"

"SOPHIE!"

She shook her head.

"Huh?"

"Listen to me! How'd you like it if I kept ribbing you about Lok?"

Her face turned the same colour as her dress, which matched her regular attire and her lipstick, as she was overcome with rage and embarrassment.

"You leave Lok out of this, Zhalia!' she shouted.

Her face slowly began to revert to its regular coloration.

"Whoa, girls, haven't we been through this before?" Lok asked, walking into the room.

_Did…did he hear me?_

Sophie's blush returned with a vengeance as she turned to Lok, dressed in an unusually formal tuxedo, and then back to Zhalia.

"Look, Zhalia, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I just…I really thought we were friends. I can tease Lok and he'd just laugh it off but…if you're not happy about it, then I'll stop, alright? Just…"

She glanced at Lok again, and blushed further.

She moved closer and whispered, "Just leave Lok out of it, OK?"

Zhalia's temper began to fade.

She smiled smugly. "You like him, don't you?"

Her blush deepened. "Yes…" she stared down at her pretty pink sequined slippers.

"Sophie, you're right. We're friends. But Dante's a…touchy topic. So just…don't talk about him."

"Alright," she said, "I know what you mean," she glanced longingly at Lok.

"Sophie," Lok asked, "why do you keep looking at me like that? And why do you keep whispering to Zhalia?"

Zhalia smiled. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. Go ahead," she nudged her…friend.

Sophie smiled nervously as she walked towards Lok.

Lok took her hand.

"Wow, Sophie, I just realised how amazing you look," said Lok, genuinely overwhelmed by her feminine beauty.

_It just comes off her, like…like back in Solomon's Mines._

_ Sure, she's normally…well…_cute_…and sometimes a little flirty, but now, like this…she looks like a princess. A true Casterwill noblelady._

The hue of her face once more approached that of her dress.

"Let's just go back, Lok. It's a party, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," Zhalia said to no-one in particular, as Lok and Sophie departed the room.

She locked eyes with Dante in the main room. Both smiled as he extended a hand, and she stepped forth to take it…

_To be continued…_

**A/N So how was that? Leave kind words or constructive feedback in the magical box of happiness beneath (translation: please review)!**

** For the vanishingly small number of you who are following my almost entirely unloved epic (and current project) _Duality_, worry not: I intend to finish _Duality_ first before this. I've just rediscovered the awesomeness of Huntik, and I needed to write this down to A) boost self-esteem of myself as an author and B) help ensure that I fully develop my ideas for the series instead of forgetting them. For every chapter of _No Rest for the Wicked_, I will publish one _Duality_ chapter before it (and don't worry – only three more to go).**

** Also, guess who Sophie in _Duality_ is named after?**

**EDIT: The New Law trilogy, of which _Duality_ is the final instalment, has been pulled for extensive rewriting. So that means this story will be my primary project now! Don't worry, I'll update frequently.**

**Just a note: this story has been written in order to conform as much as possible to the series, and for each chapter to be easily visualised as an episode. Despite this being a very logical continuation of the story for me, I shall not doubt the power of the mind of the creator to conjure something more awesome. **

**All quotations of past events (except for the _Romeo and Juliet_ one; I made that one up) were transcribed as I watched the episodes, so that took quite a bit of effort and time. Two full days for five thousand words is disgustingly slow. And for all the effort, the first part of this chapter was based on an entirely false premise which I did not really reflect upon until nearly completing the chapter, so now I feel pretty mad at myself, and humbly beg forgiveness from the reader gods for the deviation from canon.**

** This story was helpfully edited by my younger brother.**


	2. Chapter 2: Revenge of the Red Comet

Chapter 2: Revenge of the Red Comet

**A/N This chapter contains a good deal of exposition, tediously verified historical references and astrophysics, and some of the promised Aristotelico-Thomistic metaphysics. Yippee! But worry not, there is still a bit of romance and a small dose of action, and plenty more to come in future chapters, which this one sets the stage for.**

_Dark cavern  
Unknown location  
Two days ago_

The small force of twenty Silent Soldiers, faces highlighted in the shadow only by a single Boltflare cast by the one in front, trudged on through the dark cavern.

Behind them walked the two most powerful Seekers in the entire Blood Spiral Brotherhood who still lived: Wind and Shauna, the weak light of the Boltflare barely reaching them.

"It's a good thing they found it," Shauna said to her partner. "Even with so many, a team disappeared while searching for it in the Amazon. The Foundation scum might have stopped us if they knew our plan," she hissed.

Wind nodded, still silent.

Suddenly, something seized upon Shauna.

"Stop!" she shouted.

The Silent Soldiers dared not question her.

She sniffed the air like an animal.

"Casterwill," she hissed, glaring into the shadows.

"Looking for this?"

The voice that came from the direction Shauna was staring at was…well, the accent with which it was inflected was not evocative of any precise nation or culture, but rather simply sounded...off. The timbre and pitch of the voice did not betray the gender of the speaker, but seemed to lean towards femininity, albeit still grossly distorted.

Wind looked slightly uncomfortable.

Suddenly, a ray of the light from the Boltflare caught a crystal sailing through the air, refracting through it with a brilliant flash.

_The amulet of Void!_

When Rassimov was killed by the Red Comet, he had the amulet of Void with him. But the Blood Spirals weren't defeated so easily: the amulet had fallen back to Earth, the dark energies of the Titan within preventing it from disintegrating on re-entry. The Blood Spiral Brotherhood, or what was left of it, had tried to hunt down the amulet, but their mysterious attacker had beaten them to it, and offered to meet to hand it over, in exchange for…something. She/he/it had not specified.

As one Silent Soldier jumped up to grab the amulet, the same hideous voice cried,  
"Darkvoid!"

Wind's eyes widened in terror, as did Shauna's.

"RUN!" she cried, as the Silent Soldier who attempted to grab the amulet was sucked into the abyss, his dying scream echoing through the cavern.

She reached out her hand.

"Sorrowbond!"

It took quite a bit of effort, but in a few seconds a bubble of energy had formed around the crystalline amulet, yanking it away from the void.

"Shadowgrip (A/N new power)!" called the voice, and a tendril of what appeared to be physical darkness reached out from the shadows, clamping around the amulet and violently yanking it backwards. Shauna was easily overpowered by their mysterious opponent.

The remnants of the Silent Soldier force had gotten out of range of the Darkvoid, which then collapsed, having claimed the lives of three of the Silent Soldiers.

Shauna stared at the ground formerly occupied by the evil spell, shocked and horrified (a first for her).

_Not even Rassimov was that brutal!_

"Erase the light! VOID!"

The voice was sickeningly playful.

A wave of unease and a sense of impending doom overcame them as the evil Nullifier Void formed before them, the mysterious Seeker apparently having re-bonded with it in that brief period of time.

Twin vortices of malevolence surged forth from Void's claws, utterly obliterating the Silent Soldiers in their way. No pile of charred bones. Not even a heap of ash.

The survivors turned tail and fled.

"Sunlock!" the voice hissed, as the fleeing Blood Spirals suddenly found themselves very tightly bound by chains of golden energy.

"A Casterwill power! But how?" Shauna asked.

"Bring them to me," the mysterious Seeker ordered Void.

* * *

_Dante's house  
Venice, Italy  
The present_

Dante collapsed onto his living room sofa, one arm still around Zhalia's waist.

He surveyed his house. As most venues were after a party, it was a complete mess.

Sophie, Lok, Den and Harrison, all similarly exhausted, lay down on other sofas.

Dante cleared his throat as he stood up.

"Alright, Seekers, it may be my birthday, but you should know that there's no such thing as a vacation for me, especially not now."

"Why? What happened?" asked Zhalia, showing a rare flash of genuine concern.

"Those Silent Soldiers…they really live up to their name. Teien can't get them to talk."

Sophie tapped a finger against her chin as she contemplated the situation.

"Teien's far better at using Oathmaker than I am. If she can't do it, I don't think I could."

"Let me take a look at them," Zhalia told her fiancé.

"I think I might know why the spell doesn't work."

"Alright," Dante said. "We leave tomorrow, after you guys clean up the house."

There were groans of complaint all around.

_Huntik International HQ  
New York City, USA_

Zhalia could barely make out the mouth of one of the Silent Soldiers moving from grainy surveillance footage, and his head lighting up.

"As I suspected," she said to Dante.

"They're using Headcage."

"Then I have just the thing," said Sophie.

The gang walked into the holding chamber.

"Breakspell!" Sophie called, projecting a blue bolt towards the Silent Soldier.

His head glowed green briefly.

"Aah!"

"Oathmaker!"

"Headca—ungh…"

"Why were you in the Amazon Jungle?" Lok asked.

"We were ordered to find the amulet of Void for another attempt to open the Spiral Mark," the Silent Soldier said robotically.

"So they haven't given up yet," said Zhalia.

"It's not a very good plan," said Lok. "Even if they manage to break into the lab, they don't have enough power to open the Spiral Mark. Now that Dante's taken care of the Red Comet (Zhalia squeezed her fiancé's hand, the memory of his death still painful)…"

"…and Lok's taken care of the Betrayer," Sophie cut in, (He blushed, and scratched his head. "It was nothing, really," he said modestly) "none of them have the ability to deliver that jolt of power to open the gateway and summon the Nullifiers to Earth. But knowing Shauna, she was probably too angry to think straight!"

Lok and Sophie laughed.

"They're probably just playing it safe. If anything crops up later, the amulet might come in handy," Dante said. "They might discover another way to deliver all that energy."

"Then we'd better stop them," said Den. "The harder it is for them to open that portal, the better for all of us!"

"But where would we start?" Sophie asked.

Before Dante could reply, Tersly blundered into the holding cell.

"Th-there you all are! Quickly," he panted, "Metz says something important cropped up!"

The team looked at each other.

"Come on!" Dante shouted, as they ran out of the holding area.

"Aren't you staying behind?" Zhalia asked him.

"I'm starting to miss my days as a field agent. It's what I do best, not paperwork. And besides," he kissed her briefly, causing her to blush uncharacteristically, "I don't want my fiancée to be in danger without me around to back her up."

She smiled at him, a warm glow within (a pleasant sensation that was beginning to grow familiar).

* * *

_Pontifical Academy of Sciences  
Vatican City_

"The Vatican?" Sophie asked.

"Why would the Foundation have a base here?" Zhalia puzzled.

"They don't. Well, not per se. But our contact here does. He'll fill you in later," Dante explained.

He looked down at the file on his Holotome, and looked up.

"And there he is," he said, pointing at a tall, lanky, wiry, boyish-looking black-haired intern, slowly pacing in front of the ornate door.

The boy looked up as he heard them approaching, his eyes lighting up.

"Ah, Mr Dante Vale!" he exclaimed, stepping forth to greet him.

He gripped his hand firmly.

"Thomas. John Thomas, _Ordo Quaesitorum_ (Latin: Order of Seekers). Physics intern at the Academy by day, researcher for the Order of the Seekers of St. Augustine and the Huntik Foundation by night. Pleased to meet you, Mr Vale. I've heard a lot about you, and the data collated from the adventures of you and your team – the heroic Mstr Lok Lambert, the brilliant Ms Sophie Casterwill, the cunning Ms Zhalia Moon, the up-and-coming Mstr Den Fears, his brother, Mstr Harrison Fears, and of course, their diminutive Titan companion, Cherit," he said, gesturing to each respectively.

"Pleased to meet you too," Dante nodded, shaking his hand. John was about the same age as Lok or Sophie.

"Alright, now that everyone's been introduced, let's get going. I'll elaborate on the situation when we arrive."

He walked up to the doors of the Academy and held them open.

"The criticality of the information I am about to share," he said as the team walked in, "cannot be overemphasised, and neither can its sensitivity. I see the Foundation has taken this threat seriously enough to dispatch a Foundation Council member to personally deal with this?"

"Actually," Dante said as John brisk-walked to the front of the group, "it was more a case of nostalgia, and me wanting to take care of my…"

He wrapped his fingers around Zhalia's, as she, still unaccustomed to having sweet, tender love laved on her (not least by _Dante_), blushed and smiled, turning away.

"…fiancée."

"Ah," John said, nodding.

"Come inside," he said, leading them through a courtyard into a building.

He surreptitiously approached a statue, and whispered, "Farslip!"

Nothing.

He hurried to the other side of the building, entering a supply closet there.

He ran his hand over the dark walls.

Something on the ground glowed briefly.

He gestured for them to stand back, and moved to a specific position on the ground.

Something on the wall glowed briefly.

"Boltflare!" he hissed, casting the spell at the wall and briefly illuminating the room.

The wall glowed briefly, and faded away.

"This way," he said, leading them down a stairwell, as the wall phased back into existence.

John came to heavy steel door, and bent down so as to be at eye level with a piece of glass in a metal panel on one side.

The heavy doors slid open, without so much as a whisper, only to bathe the team in light and a cacophony of noise, the sights and sounds of a laboratory.

"The Catholic Church is the oldest organisation on Earth," John began, as he led the team through the door, "the third-oldest if you count the Casterwill family and the Blood Spirals. An organisation of our influence and magnitude does not overlook the existence of a facet of human nature as critical as magic that easily."

"It was sometime in the early fifth century, shortly after St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, had eruditely argued for the _non_-existence of witchcraft, that missionaries to Greece discovered the Seeker community on Sutos Island. Despite a strong Church presence in Greece for the past few centuries, only through sheer ingenuity, luck, and a good dose of Divine Providence were the missionaries finally able to bypass the traps that obstructed passage to the island. The missionaries preached successfully, but when they reported back to Rome, understandably the highlight was how everyone had magic."

"Now, St. Boniface I, Bishop of Rome, was still quite convinced by St. Augustine that the only possible source of the supernatural was God Himself, and hence sought a natural explanation for this case. Finding none, he concluded that it was a rare natural phenomenon. Further investigations led to the founding of an Order of Church Seekers, which later came, appropriately, under the patronage of St. Augustine in medieval times. The Order was not, however, strictly monastic, in that the members did not require a vow of celibacy, so as to take advantage of the hereditary nature of Seeker powers. And of course all this was performed in secret, the relevant documents sealed away today in the Order vault, only accessible through this base."

"For a millennium and a half, the Order kept its numbers small and its activities hidden from the Seekers of the world, including, impressively, the Blood Spiral Brotherhood. The primary purpose of the Order was to study and analyse this mysterious phenomenon of magic and Titans, and that's precisely what we've been doing until very recently. Although in the early days, when the Church held more power, we could use it to indirectly assist Seekers with strong ties to her. When this Foundation was, well, founded at the turn of the 20th century, we realised that we could slip some of our own agents into their ranks in order to once more have a more concrete effect on the world without exposing our existence, which was masked but from a handful of Cardinals and the Pope himself."

"It was only in the light of the recent near-catastrophe with the Blood Spirals that we decided to bite the bullet for the greater good and reveal ourselves to the Foundation leadership. I had until then been serving as one of the liaisons between the Foundation and the Order, under the guise of a researcher, who covertly passed information between the two."

The group passed by a somewhat messy-looking office, with a boy who looked only about as old as Den or Harrison reclining in a chair, garbed in a pristine cassock, engrossed a thick book, the 1912 _Catholic Encyclopaedia_.

The boy snapped to his feet as he saw the party pass by. He was shorter and stockier than John, more tanned, and slightly chubbier.

"Ah yes, this is my brother, Kevin," John said, stopping the party. "Officially a permanent student of the Vatican Pre-Seminary, but secretly also part of the Order. He's in charge of security, that is to say, the bouncer…"

He leaned in close next to Sophie, and, glancing at his brother to ensure he was out of earshot, whispered, "…in more ways than one," he gestured to his brother's belly.

Sophie giggled, her hand politely covering her mouth, and Lok blushed slightly.

"Hey!" he cried, or attempted to – his rational faculties overpowered his passion for Sophie, and his phobia of rejection froze the exclamation in his throat.

He swallowed hard. No-one had noticed, except John.

John cocked his head, and gestured to Sophie, then pointed at Lok.

Lok nodded, jaw firmly set.

_Sophie's mine. I need her. I _love_ her._

John nodded knowingly, and leaned back, opening both palms in a gesture of non-hostility, as Kevin joined the group.

"Anyway, Kevin doesn't really do much as a Seeker of St. Augustine. As I said before, our primary function is to analyse and study. This place is well-hidden and defended by all manner of enchantments, so combat-oriented Seekers don't really do much. Though he seems to have picked up a thing or two from helping me to analyse your adventures, Mr Vale. Stopglue is a highly fascinating spell."

"Now, if you ladies and gentlemen would be so kind as to follow me back to my office? We did not decide to reveal ourselves just so we could bore you with our history."

John continued as they walked. "In our years of study, we have come very close to achieving a scientific model for the operation of magic and Titans, and from this developed an interesting trick or two." John said, as he began walking. "But the most pressing issue, ladies and gentlemen, is something I've picked out from the account of your tidy little battle with the Betrayer himself. If I'm not wrong, the titan Void was summoned, yes?"

"Right," Dante said, "Rassimov tried to use Void to teleport him to the Red Comet so that he could harness its power with the Necklace of Tutankhamen."

"Ah."

John's expression was grave.

"And you say you recently captured some Silent Soldiers in the Amazon?"

"Yes," Harrison said. "They were looking for the amulet of Void."

"Hmm…we might have a slight situation here."

"How so?" Sophie asked.

"Well, you see, the advantage the Order has is that it has access to documents of such a critical nature that they have been sealed away in a secret level of the Vatican Secret Archives since they were discovered. These were deemed too dangerous for us to risk them falling into the wrong hands, because they not only provided an insight into the workings of magic and Titans, but also, a clue as to the events of the past."

"The Nullifiers were an immense evil. In fact, 'immense' doesn't even begin to cover them. They are aberrations on reality itself, entities of ultimate chaos, un-creators, if you will. They don't even exactly _exist_, properly. They aren't demons, nor are they demi-demons in the same way that titans are demi-angels, in a manner of speaking. They are physical evil, quite possibly the only example of an evil which cannot be explained by even the best of theodicies. Existence itself is a good, but not for Nullifiers. They are instruments of chaos and destruction, and nothing more."

"Alright, but what does this have to do with the Necklace?" Zhalia asked.

"This is the worst part. The Nullifiers are a sort of order for chaos, by chaos, and of chaos, a mockery of a creature, that only destroys. They have no purpose other than chaos. When Void learnt of the Betrayer's treachery, of his creation of what would come to be known as the Necklace, it cursed the Necklace. Should it ever be used, the Necklace would summon an enormous astronomical object, whose sheer magnitude would dwarf that of the Red Comet. Heck, it would dwarf the Earth itself. In fact, my best estimates tell me that its diameter a half of the equatorial diameter of the galactic central bulge, that is to say, 20,000 light-years across. If I didn't make any sign errors, it'd be able to rip the Earth out of orbit even from distances of _one trillion light-years _(A/N Calculated value. Assume this thing is a sphere of density 3000 kg/m^3), and, if it doesn't slam it into something, it would pull the Earth towards itself. The effects of a collision should be intuitively obvious. But it wouldn't matter. Being displaced from the solar system would've frozen us all into ice lollies by then."

"But gravity travels at the speed of light! So since no-one's seen it yet, we can't feel it yet, right?" Sophie queried, more than a little worried.

"Well, yes, the Necklace doesn't seem to be designed to instantly destroy. But as I said, the Nullifiers are hell-bent on destruction. The rock probably only has that countdown to make sure the planet and all the Nullifiers on it aren't annihilated by accident. They want us dead; don't let the timer on the rock deceive you. I'm not sure how the Blood Spirals are dealing with that message, but if they turn to Void, it'd probably have some trick to teleport the blasted thing nearer."

"Humanity is the highest form of order physically possible. We have rational souls (A/N the meaning of 'souls' here is a lot more complex than the popular image of a phantom. But that's a discussion for another chapter), see. Intellect. We can grasp abstract concepts, unlike monkeys. When Void found us, it knew it had found the single pinnacle, the very locus of order in an inter-dimensional sea of chaos, and so rallied the Nullifiers to annihilate it entirely. Lord Casterwill stopped them, but their own survival and propagation is not the primary concern of the Nullifiers. If they cannot annihilate the Earth themselves, they'll just get a giant evil red space rock to do it for them. They don't care what happens, as long as they can rub us out. This is why they are so dangerous. They will stop at nothing to destroy the human race completely."

Dante looked John dead in the eye.

"How do we stop them?"

"The rock, we can probably leave for later. The Blood Spirals and Void are a somewhat more immediate issue."

"So, what? We hunt down every last Blood Spiral?" Den asked.

"That is the only viable long-term strategy: kill or capture every last one of the pawns of Chaos, and destroy their organisation forever. But right now, the only thing that matters is amulet of Void. Void is the only Nullifier that could possibly direct them to summon this rock. The rest are sealed away, thanks to your efforts."

"In the meantime, our intelligence networks and yours have no choice but to keep scouring the planet for any sign of them. It is imperative that we do not allow Void the opportunity to pronounce its death sentence on mankind."

Dante nodded. "I see. This is quite possibly the greatest threat we have ever had to face."

"Almost definitely. Now, while we wait for some news to trickle in from our intelligence networks, you could step right into my office and maybe I could teach you chaps a trick or two," John said, opening the door for them.

The room was somewhat tidier than his brother's office (for one thing, the floor wasn't littered with toys and sweet wrappers), but stacks of books and papers lined the room.

Sophie inspected one of the bookshelves.

"_Summa Theologica_ by St. Thomas Aquinas. _The_ _Divine Comedy_ by DanteAlighieri. _On Divorce_ by Louis de Bonald. _On the Pope _by Joseph de Maistre. _Aquinas_ by Edward Feser. _The Last Superstition_ by Edward Feser. _Philosophy of Mind _by Edward Feser. Sears and Zemansky's _College Physics_ by Hugh Young. _QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter _by Richard Feynman. _The Emperor's New Mind_ by Roger Penrose. _The Road to Reality _by Roger Penrose. _The Quantum Enigma_ by Wolfgang Pauli. _Modern Physics and Ancient Faith_ by Stephen M. Barr. _A Canticle for Leibowitz _by Walter M. Miller, Jr. _The Lord of the Rings_ by J. R. R. Tolkien. _The Art of War _by Sun Tzu. _Selected Works of Juan Donoso Cortés_. _Don Colacho's Aphorisms _(A/N This one can be found in its entirety at the very bottom of my profile)," she murmured to herself.

Lok's eyes fell on a book on lying open on John's desk.

He spotted two words, a familiar name, _King Arthur_.

Lok had, in the span of time between the Blood Spiral Incident and the present, grown interested in the figure of King Arthur. Having been a wielder of the Willblade, like Lok himself, and also likely a Champion of the Casterwills, Lok turned to him as a sort of a role model. Thus he picked up the book, and began reading.

The other members of the team poked about other curiosities in John's office for a while.

John noticed Lok reading his book.

He peeked over his shoulder.

"Ah, Nennius' records of King Arthur! Fascinating choice, but won't be much use to you if you're looking at Arthur as a wielder of the Willblade."

John paused, and licked his lips. "Mmm, tasty alliteration. Wielder, Willblade…"

"Right, anyway, Arthur himself was a Seeker, like his famous Champion, Sir Lancelot. I believe you explored his mausoleum two years ago?"

"Yes. The leader of the Blood Spirals, Rassimov, destroyed Lancelot's Titan, Cavalier, while undercover as an Organisation operative," Dante said.

"Ah. Pity," John said. "Anyway, Arthur was very much like Mr. Vale over here: a most useful source of knowledge for the Order, and an illustrious fighter of the good fight. It was thanks to him that we learnt of the true nature of the Nullifiers, the role of the Casterwills, and so forth. The last piece of information was particularly interesting, and slightly ironic; the Casterwills were at the time the most affluent and influential section of the Church, and proved extremely helpful to her."

"Anyway, back then, before the Foundation, we secretly helped many Catholic Seekers, particularly the royal and knightly ones, guiding them to artefacts and Titans, teaching them spells, and so forth, using the influence of the Church, without exposing our existence. Of course, being Catholic, these Seekers expanded the influence of the Church with their powers. For example, Lok's Titan, Lindorm (A/N they had recovered it a week or so ago) once menaced a pagan village, until the Catholic Seeker St. George bonded with it, and in so doing, converted the entire village. And as that book would tell you, King Arthur led the British Christian Kingdoms against the native pagans."

"The Casterwills sponsored his enterprises in the British Isles by lending him the Willblade. In championing the Casterwill family, Arthur championed the Church, not unlike Lok: Champion of the Casterwills, hence wielder of the Willblade, but also therefore one of the foremost operatives of the Foundation. Many of the myths you hear of Arthur were his Seeker exploits, which he carried out in order to help strengthen himself for his primary duty of serving the Church."

John cleared his throat.

"Alright, I could go on and on about the history of the Church's covert involvement with famous Seekers, but it's presently more important that I illustrate some spells which we have developed through generations of study. We'll need every advantage we can get to stop the Spirals."

"Kevin," John said, "launch something at me, won't you?"

"Boltflare!" the boy cried, hurling a brilliant orb of yellow energy at his brother.

"Formbreak!" John called, sending purply-blue energy towards the incoming spell. There was a brilliant flash, and it was no more.

"Formbreak essentially does the same thing as Breakspell, but works in a far more efficient fashion. You see, when a Seeker expends willpower to cast a spell, most of that willpower goes into the energy of the spell, but a small amount goes into maintaining the form of the spell. This is why the energy from a Boltflare can stay together in a single bolt as it is projected. But Formbreak attacks the form of the spell and strips the spell of it, changing it from a bolt of energy to just plain energy, which will naturally dissipate itself. This works on defensive spells too, and costs very little energy. Breakspell, on the other hand, costs quite a bit of energy, because it needs to dispel the energy of the spell itself."

"I've got a couple more spells up my sleeve, like this one: Willform!"

John sent white and blue energy flowing towards a stack of papers on his table, and the stack glowed brilliantly, the papers tidying themselves.

"Awesome!" Lok said, "I can use that to clean my room!"

Sophie smacked his arm, "You lazy bum!"

The occupants of the room chuckled.

"Willform imposes a form on something. It's essentially the opposite of Formbreak, and functions basically as a limited form of telekinesis. Kevin, another Boltflare, please."

"Boltflare!"

"Formbreak! Willform!" John called in rapid succession.

The bolt disintegrated upon contact with the purple-blue spell, but before its energies could dissipate, the second spell pulled them together, this time in a bolt in the opposite direction.

"Armourbrand!" Kevin shouted, absorbing the shot.

"Willform is a more advanced version of Farslip and is closely related to Findshape. The latter is actually a composite spell: it searches for the form which the object was given, and then restores the form, by imposing it once more on the matter of the object. Willform is easier to master and use, and can be applied to energy as well as matter, but it can only impose forms which are present in the mind of the caster."

"And now a couple of interesting offensive spells. These are weaker than standard offensive spells, but they'd allow you to hit targets you otherwise wouldn't be able to."

"Huntsprite!"

A small, purplish-white bolt flew from John's hand, initially angled towards the ground, but self-course-correcting, automatically turning the corners of John's desk to hit Kevin behind it.

"Ouch!" he cried as he crashed to the ground, eliciting a round of laughter.

"Huntsprite is somewhat autonomous, and also somewhat costly in terms of energy, given the little damage it does. The caster assigns it a target before launching it, and the spell manoeuvres past all obstacles to hit said target."

"And finally, Tunnelpulse."

A bluish-green bolt emerged from John's hand, passing through his desk to hit the floor.

"Tunnelpulse passes through ordinary matter and delivers its minor payload upon contacting magical objects. Very useful for hitting enemies when you don't want them to hit you."

"And the floor…?" Harrison pointed out

"Ah, the floor and walls of each room here are enchanted. Security feature."

John was about to say something else when Dante's Holotome started beeping.

He flipped it open.

"Metz," he said, as the Holotome projected his mentor's face.

"Dante! The Blood Spirals are on the move. You must head to England immediately! Foundation operatives in England have spotted Blood Spirals moving through the country in plain sight. They seem to be congregating at the coast of Northern England!"

"Northern England?" Sophie asked. "The Spirals must be planning some kind of assault on the Casterwill caves!"

"Is there anything there that might be of interest? Any artefacts, or anything?" John asked.

"The Legendary Titan of Valour, Mythras, maybe. Viviane, the Lady of the Lake over there, has him," Lok said.

"Whatever it is," Dante said, to both his team and to Metz, "the Blood Spirals are making their move. This is our chance to put a dent in their ranks and find out what they're up to, and how far they've gotten on the Red Comet's nasty big brother."

"Big brother?" Metz asked, puzzled.

"Our contact here just told us. Rassimov accidentally warped in a giant version of the Red Comet, 20,000 light-years across. It could easily wipe out the Earth, and the Nullifiers and the Blood Spirals may have some trick to warp it closer."

"That _is_ serious. Dante, we'll need your skill and expertise on this one. You'd best stick with your team until this crisis is over."

"I was just about to suggest that myself. Anyway, Metz, goodbye. We have Spirals to fight."

"Good luck," Metz nodded, as his hologram vanished.

"John, Kevin, you two should come along too," Dante said.

"We might need those new spells and your knowledge," he said to John, "and an extra Seeker can't hurt," he said to Kevin.

"Alright," John said.

"Seekers, we have a mission."

The Holotome projected a card.

"Mission: The First Stirrings. Investigate the gathering of Blood Spiral forces, uncover their motives, and find out how much the Spirals know about the Greater Red Comet," Dante said as he slipped the card into his pocket.

"Let's go!"

_To be continued…_

**A/N Cliffhanger! Yay!**

** Also, what's a story about ancient artefacts and magic without a conspiracy theory involving the Roman Catholic Church? Except they're normally the bad guys****, and the story isn't always as historically plausible (*ahem* Dan Brown *ahem*)**.

**Please note that the T rating was for an androgynous psychopath running around killing wantonly and cackling madly about it, and intellectually rigorous content (philosophy and such).**

**I have not actually been to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. I have seen pictures of the courtyard, but I'm not sure about supply closets inside.**

**And once again, love it or hate it, please review! It makes me happy, and I work faster when I'm happy!**


	3. Chapter 3: Two Betrayals

Chapter 3: Two Betrayals

_Coast of Northern England  
A few hours later_

A hooded, cloaked figure stood in the middle of the English beach.

The figure pumped its fist in the air.

"Emerge! Bazela Hive!"

The voice was leached with sickening levity.

There was much screaming and panicking as the colossal insect-creature appeared out of thin air, and the Blood Spirals began emerging from all around.

"What's going on here?" someone shouted.

The figure turned. A policeman was pointing a gun at him, visibly trembling and sweating in fear and anxiety.

A wicked smile formed on the figure's lips.

"Shadowgrip!"

A tendril of blackness shot forth, wrapping around the policeman's throat, constricting him. His arms went limp and the gun dropped from his hand.

"AAAAARGH!" he screamed, as he was hurled into the ocean, and the figure giggled perversely.

"AAAAARGH!" the rest of the civilians screamed, scrambling away as fast as possible.

As if to make its point even clearer, the figure cried, "Sunburst! (A/N new power)"

A brilliant orb of golden energy shot forth, colliding with a building in a devastating explosion.

By now, the Bazela Hive had spawned a substantial number of Insect Flyers (and anyone with an iota of common sense was a mile away).

The figure climbed atop one.

The other Blood Spirals did likewise.

And they began flying towards the island of the Casterwill caves.

* * *

The hum of the engines of the Foundation jet permeated the air as Lok, Sophie, Cherit, Dante, Zhalia, Den, Harrison, John and Kevin approached the island.

Zhalia, Den and Harrison grabbed their forearms, the Spiral tattoos glowing.

"Dante…" breathed Zhalia.

He grimaced. "They're close."

Lok looked down through the clouds. He could make out a large dark shape against the yellow sands of the beach of the mainland.

"Dante, turn back, and try to get closer to the ground. There's something on the beach.

Dante frowned. "It's a tricky manoeuvre, but I'll try."

Kevin moaned indistinctly.

The rest of the team turned to him.

They couldn't tell which he was squeezing tighter, his eyelids or the armrests of his seat.

"He hates flying," John said, matter-of-factly.

The plane turned a tight loop as Kevin turned slightly green.

They slipped through the clouds, droplets of moisture condensing on the windows.

It quickly became clear what the dark shape was.

"It's that thing again!" cried Lok.

There was still a substantial number of Silent Soldiers boarding the Insect Flyers.

"That means they _are_ attacking the Casterwill caves!" Sophie gasped.

"We need to take out that Titan to stop them from flying in any more reinforcements!" John cried.

"Then we need to get down there, and fast!" Den said.

"Exactly," said Dante. "If we go straight to the island they'll outflank us. Now I can't land the plane here. So you guys need to jump out of the plane."

Kevin's groan of protest was somewhat more violent this time.

"I'll fly ahead to try and disrupt the Spirals already in the air."

"I'll follow you, Mr Vale. The jet's not armed, so I think you'd need my special spells to hit the Spirals. Unless you plan on ramming them with the plane."

There was some slight chuckling.

"I'll go with Dante," said Zhalia, slipping one arm around his.

No-one protested.

"Mmm…I think I'll stay up here too," said Cherit, looking slightly nervous.

"Alright. The rest of you, get ready. That includes you, Kevin. We didn't bring you along so you could vomit all over the plane," he smiled slightly.

"No…" he moaned.

* * *

"Come quickly, young mistress!" White cried, running into the crystal cave, his sword drawn.

"A Casterwill has come! The island is reacting!"

"A Casterwill?" she looked up. "Is it Miss Sophie?"

"I don't think so, young mistress. But come, we must meet our guest!"

"But we were warned that there may be Spirals…"

"Whoever it is might be able to help us fight them," he said.

Viviane nodded, and followed White out.

* * *

"Featherdrop!"

"Bubblelift!"

The team jumped out of the plane as Dante brought it in low.

"I'll come around to pick you guys up after we take them out!" Dante shouted after his teammates.

"Come on, Kevin," John shouted, shoving his brother, who was clinging tightly to the side of the plane door, and sending him tumbling from out of the plane.

"Bubblelift!" John called after his brother, slowing his descent to a safe velocity as he spouted unimaginably foul curses.

"Why he chose the priesthood, I'll never figure out," John muttered to himself.

"Don't shut the doors yet!" John shouted, as Dante brought the plane up behind the formation of Silent Soldiers already in the air.

John focused, channelling a larger-than-usual amount of willpower into his hands.

"Doublespell! Huntsprite!"

Twin purple orbs shot from the plane, blasting two Silent Soldiers out of the sky and destroying their mounts.

Zhalia ran up to the door.

"Impale, Strix!" she cried, sending forth a trio of insects, which bombarded the Silent Soldiers' mounts, taking three of them out.

"Huntsprite!" John called again.

Yet another Silent Soldier fell.

John pumped a fist in the air.

"That's how it happens!"

The jet was obviously faster than the Silent Soldiers, and so as it started catching up with them, John and Zhalia came face to face with an unfortunate several, all of which were blasted out of the sky by conventional offensive spells (a grand total of one being downed by Cherit).

At this time, the Spirals realised what was going on, and began launching Nullcurses at the plane.

"Zhalia! This jet wasn't designed to take this much damage!" Dante shouted, a sharp manoeuvre throwing John and Zhalia off balance.

"Dive!" Zhalia told him, and he obeyed.

"Thoughtspectre!"

The Spirals' fire was immediately redirected to an illusory airplane which was continuing on Dante's original course, while the actual jet, concealed by Zhalia's spell, slipped around them.

Dante saw some of the flyers heading back.

"We're nearing the island," he announced.

"That means we've reached the end of the group. Bring the plane around!" John told Dante.

He complied.

"Doublespell! Huntsprite!" John called again.

"Huntsprite! Huntsprite!"

One after another, the airborne Spirals dropped like flies.

John was panting heavily from the effort of firing so many spells in succession.

"Close the door!" John shouted, running to the back of the plane.

"Doublespell! Tunnelpulse!"

John had tracked the position of only one of the flyers with sufficient accuracy to hit it.

"Tunnelpulse!"

By pure luck, another one went down.

John slumped back in his chair, exhausted.

"We'll deal with the rest of them on island," Dante said, heading back to the mainland.

Dante turned the jet about, speeding back to the rest of the team.

* * *

Viviane and her guardians ran onto the shore to find a young man (or at least he looked slightly more like a man than a woman) in a cloak. There was a thick fog behind him, shielding the ocean from their view.

Viviane stepped forward to greet her guest, who she could sense the island highlighting as a Casterwill, but an odd feeling seized upon her.

"Something's not right," she whispered to White and Mallory.

They nodded, moving their hands to their blades.

"Hello," she asked tentatively.

"Hello, little girl," the man smiled, somewhat creepily.

"I am a Casterwill, sent here to protect this place," he said.

"Alright," said Viviane, still suspicious, as she took one step closer.

She thought she could hear a faint buzzing sound, and make out dark shapes through the fog.

"You may have Casterwill blood, but how do we know we can trust you?"

The man's smile grew wider.

"You can't."

The source of the buzzing was revealed: Silent Soldiers riding Bazela Insect Flyers burst through the fog, raining Nullcurses on the three.

"Honourguard!" cried Mallory, shielding them from the assault.

"Run, young mistress!" cried White, as Mallory dropped the shield.

"Kindlestrike!" Mallory called, blasting a distant Insect Flyer and dropping its passenger into the ocean.

Viviane didn't hesitate.

"Hyperstride!" she cried, retreating into the caverns, White following shortly after.

The man smiled wickedly.

"Sunburst!"

The explosive blast sent Mallory flying.

"Mallory!" cried White.

"Bubblelift!" called Viviane, catching the old man.

"Honourguard!" cried White, shielding both of them as the Spirals hurled spells at them.

Viviane deftly manoeuvred Mallory into the cavern to the best of her ability.

"Kindlestrike!" White caved in the entrance.

"Wallbind! (A/N new power)"

The rocks began glowing golden.

"That won't hold them for long," Mallory hoarsed.

"We can only hope the Foundation's actual support arrives soon," White said.

"Everyone, summon your Titans!" cried Viviane.

"Palamedes! Feyone!" called White, producing his two amulets.

"Pellinore! Icarus!" the still-somewhat-stunned Mallory rasped.

"Armourforge!" called Viviane, equipping her guardians with magic shields.

And then, she slipped on a ring.

"Roar, Legendary Titan of Valour: MYTHRAS!"

The Titans and Seekers stood, ready to ambush, arrayed about the entrance, as the spell's golden energy pulsed with each hit delivered to it.

* * *

"Let's do this!" shouted Lok as he gently touched down, with Sophie gracefully drifting to the ground in a magical bubble by his side.

A crossfire of Nullcurses flew overhead.

He pumped his fist in the air.

"Bladecall!"

"Alright, we need to save our strength for later," he said, beginning to plan, "so no Titans. Take all the Silent Soldiers down!"

"Got it," said Sophie.

Two Silent Soldiers raised their fists, about to invoke Titans.

Sophie was quicker.

"Doublespell! Kindlestrike!"

Two precise beams of blue energy sent the Silent Soldiers tumbling, the amulets falling to the ground.

"Nice one, Sophie!" Lok complimented her, as he launched an energy wave from his sword at two approaching Silent Soldiers, knocking them off their feet.

"Thanks," she smiled at him, before turning her attention towards another handful of opponents.

A deft swipe prevented another from summoning a Titan. Lok closed the distance and, in one fluid motion, drove the pommel of his weapon into his opponent's skull, knocking him out.

He flourished his blade and whirled about, ready to face any other threats.

Den and Harrison landed side by side.

Unfortunately, this left them surrounded by six Silent Soldiers.

"Nullcurse!" each foe screamed, all at the same time.

"Stormshield!" Harrison called, shielding both himself and his brother.

"Ready?" Den asked his brother.

"Ready," he nodded.

They dropped the barrier.

"Doublespell! Raypulse!" they called in unison, each blasting down two Silent Soldiers.

The odds were now evened.

"Hyperstride!" Den lunged towards his foe.

The unfortunate Silent Soldier did not have much time to flee.

"Dragonfist!"

The young Seeker delivered a powerful uppercut to his adversary, sending him flying into the ocean

"Cutrace!" Harrison called, dashing towards his opponent.

He slammed into the Silent Soldier, sending him to the ground, and drove an elbow into his temple with a sharp crack.

Harrison got back up, standing triumphantly over his unconscious opponent.

The brothers turned to face each other, both smiling in mutual pride.

Kevin looked a little queasy as he struggled momentarily to regain his metaphorical footing after having been thrown out of a plane with a magical bubble to serve as a parachute.

Two Silent Soldiers closed in as the boy narrowed his eyes.

"Doublespell! Mindbreak (A/N new power)!"

Yellow energy flowed from his hands to his opponents' heads, and suddenly they were bombarded by horrifying visions of their worst nightmares.

Kevin calmly walked past his two victims, screaming and clutching their heads in agony, and advanced towards two more Silent Soldiers, who wisely began to back away.

It didn't save them.

"Goldcloak! (A/N new power)"

A suit of golden armour formed around Kevin.

"Lightwield! (A/N new power)"

There was a brief, brilliant glow in Kevin's hands, and when it faded, he was holding two katanas.

The Silent Soldiers turned tail and fled.

"Nimblefire!"

Orange energy surrounded the deadly little boy's legs, boosting him forward. Before his targets had any time to implement a similar spell, he had knocked them both unconscious with the bases of the hilts of his blades.

"Harlekin!" called a Silent Soldier, who had snuck up on the boy.

Kevin braced himself for the attack, protecting his face with his shoulder.

The insane Titan snarled and lunged.

Its talons shattered on impact with Kevin's pauldron.

"Beastclaw! (A/N new power)"

A humongous talon of reddish energy projected from Kevin's right hand. With a single, mighty blow, the Harlekin was put in its place, and banished to its amulet.

The Silent Soldier, in a panic, started hurling spells.

"Nullcurse!"

The Silent Soldier's rage and fury had been replaced by sheer terror, and the consequently weaker attack was easily shrugged off by his opponent's armour.

"No! NO!"

"Mindbreak!"

"AAAAARGH!"

"Hyperstride!" Lok launched himself in the air, bringing the pommel of his blade down – hard – on his opponent's skull.

The Silent Soldier, as expected, crumpled to the ground.

Lok lunged again, at another two Silent Soldiers.

"Overslam!"

The spell knocked his cowering adversaries off-balance, giving him the chance to close in and dispatch them with the Willblade's pommel.

Sophie deftly avoided the fist of one of her opponents, grabbing his hand and throwing him at another Silent Soldier behind her, and then blasting them both with Stopglue.

"That's the last of them, then," she said, dusting off her hands.

"Alright!" Lok said, high-fiving her.

"Yeah!" the two brothers fist-bumped each other.

"Now to take care of this thing," Lok gestured with his sword to the Bazela Hive.

"Ripplebur-" Kevin prepared to fire.

"No," Lok stayed his hand. "It'll take way too much power to bring that thing down."

Kevin relaxed.

"I have an idea," said Lok.

"Hyperstride!" he jumped atop the creature.

"No! Lok!" cried Sophie, reaching her hand out.

"Don't worry!" he said, turning to blast away several incoming Insect Flyers with his sword.

He dashed over the creature's body, towards its head.

"Careful, Lok!" Sophie cried, worried.

He jumped.

"Lok!"

The creature reared.

_Good girl_.

He drove his sword straight through its eye.

With a terrible screech, the creature was banished to its amulet, as Lok dropped to the ground, smiling triumphantly.

His weapon dissipated as Sophie ran forward to embrace him.

"Lok!" she chastised him, breaking away.

"Don't pull such risky stunts! You could've gotten hurt," she said, her tone leaning towards tenderness in the latter sentence.

"What's wrong, Sophie? This isn't the most dangerous thing you've seen me do."

"I…"

She retreated to a distance, and started dragging her foot in the ground.

She looked at the ground, one hand playing with her hair, the other clasped around the elbow of the first.

"I was just worried about you, that's all," she said quietly.

He thought he could see the beginnings of a blush on her cheeks.

Lok was about to say something when he heard the hum of the engines of their jet grow louder.

"Jump aboard!" John shouted.

"Hyperstride!" Sophie cried, lunging onto the plane, glad for the opportunity to escape the awkward situation.

"Hyperstride!" the rest cried a split second later, in order to catch the plane. Den and Harrison boosted the reluctant Kevin, screaming, onto the jet, along with themselves.

Dante turned the plane about.

"The creature was banished in that direction," said Dante.

"That means that whoever's in charge of this bunch of Spirals is probably there too," said John.

"Get ready for a big fight," Dante advised. "We have no idea what we're up against, but I have a feeling things are going to get ugly."

The team looked through the windscreen in silent anticipation, as Dante neared the island.

"I need to find someplace to land, so you'll have to jump," he told his team.

"Not again…" groaned Kevin, already slightly green.

* * *

"Be careful," Dante said as they approached the island.

"This fog is difficult to see through."

He opened the doors.

"I sense dark power in the fog. Whoever cast it was a very powerful and very evil Seeker," Sophie said.

"Don't worry," Lok said, "we destroyed the Betrayer himself, right? This guy can't be tougher than that!"

"Alright," Dante said, "jump!"

"Featherdrop!"

"Bubblelift!"

"AAAAARGH!"

The team stood arrayed and ready, save for Kevin, who spent some time dusting himself off after crashing unceremoniously due to not being able to focus enough on his landing spell.

"Sophie, we need to clear this fog," Lok said.

"On it," she smiled.

"Breakspell!'

The flash of blue energy opened a gap, ten metres in diameter, in the fog, with Sophie at the centre.

"Not bad," Lok smiled.

Suddenly, there was an explosion and a flash of golden light from somewhere in the fog

"What was that?" asked Harrison.

"Formbreak!" John said, dissipating the entire fog.

Sophie glared at him briefly, but the team's attention was shortly after diverted by what was happening at the entrance to the Casterwill cavern a distance away.

A horde of Silent Soldiers were pouring into the cavern, but several were being blasted back and thrown aside.

One figure hung back.

It slowly began advancing.

"We need to get there, now!" shouted Den.

"Hyperstride!" he dashed ahead.

"Hyperstride!" the rest of the team followed.

There was another golden flash. Another explosion.

A high-pitched squeal. That of a young girl.

Den's eyes widened in concern, and he redoubled his efforts, accelerating.

"Overslam!" he shouted, knocking out the Silent Soldiers still outside the cavern.

Mallory struggled to his feet. The rare and incredibly powerful Sunburst spell had been launched at them by the rogue Casterwill, banishing Feyone and Icarus, knocking Pellinore and Palamedes to the ground, and even pushing Mythras back.

Mythras turned to the intruding traitor, eyes burning with valiant, righteous anger.

With a mighty, hope-inspiring roar, the Legendary Titan lunged at his opponent, as Pellinore, Palamedes, Viviane, White and Mallory got back on their feet.

"Hopeshatter!"

The three Casterwills watched in horror as the Legendary Titan was banished back to Viviane's ring.

"No!" Viviane gasped.

"Run, young mistress! Deeper into the caverns!" Mallory said.

"Hyperstride!" all three cried.

The traitor smiled wickedly.

"Cutrace!" he ran after the three, as the other Silent Soldiers followed suit.

The Foundation team ran into the cavern, only to see Pellinore and Palamedes running after a horde of Silent Soldiers.

"Get ready. If whoever we're fighting can create that kind of blast, then I think Dante was right," said Lok.

John broke off a crystal stalagmite.

"Formblade! (A/N new power)" he called, as the shard transformed into a crystal sword.

"Goldcloak! Lightshape!" Kevin equipped himself.

"Bladecall!" said Lok, readying his weapon of choice.

"Let's go!" shouted Den.

* * *

Viviane, White and Mallory retreated to the pool of water which had once surrounded Sorcerell's amulet.

"Your grandmother's Titans operate off the energy of the caves. They will attempt to hold off the attackers," Mallory explained to his young charge.

"But it's no good! That Seeker could banish even Mythras with one spell!" Viviane protested.

Nimue's Coralgolem and Undine emerged from the waters, as the traitor and his Silent Soldiers walked into the cavern.

The traitor gave an insane, sickeningly playful cackle as the three Casterwills backed deeper and deeper into the cave.

"Feyone! Icarus!"

His choice of Titans was particularly sardonic.

The three Casterwills moved closer to the rock they were hiding behind as the traitor's Icarus, who had begun to show some corruption from its Seeker's madness, rained vicious bolts of lightning around them, as the traitor and his Silent Soldier force looked on in amusement.

Coralgolem lumbered after Icarus, shrugging off the latter's token display of aggression, but was too slow and clumsy to intercept the flying Titan. Undine pitched in, blasting the rogue Icarus with water. The Icarus weaved and dodged through the cave, trading blows with Undine until finally a single lucky shot brought him down.

Undine, however, was defeated shortly after by Feyone, who took advantage of Undine's preoccupation with Icarus to deliver a destructive strike to the distracted Titan. Of course, Coralgolem returned the favour shortly after.

"Don't worry," the traitor giggled perversely, "I was just getting started!"

He pulled out an amulet.

But he was interrupted by Pellinore and Palamedes smashing through his rear forces, taking down half of his remaining men before the force regained their balance and started striking back.

The knightly Titans succumbed to a flurry of Nullcurses, returning to their Seekers.

The traitor looked around. Of his initial force of fifty Silent Soldiers, a measly eight remained. But he was not unduly worried. These pawns were disposable, not to mention almost completely useless. _He_ was the main weapon of the force.

He turned back to the Casterwills.

Viviane was peeking timidly out from behind a rock.

He smiled wickedly at the little girl, and she felt his sheer evil reaching into the very core of her being.

"Defy nature! ABERRUS! (A/N new Titan)"

A massive, monstrous abomination of a Titan materialised in front of the traitor and his men (who, understandably, stepped back), hovering in mid-air.

The Titan's head consisted primarily of a pair of jaws, lined with massive fangs, and twisted into a permanent grin. Its small black eyes sat atop said jaws, permanently crossed, sporting long, dirty, faux-feminine lashes. Its torso was humanoid, except that it consisted primarily of necrotic flesh barely clinging to bone. The creature's body ended at its hips, with gore-encrusted chains of varying lengths, ends shattered, dangling down, mysteriously attached to its pelvis.

Its right arm was mere bone, the joints maintained by some unknown force, ending in cruel talons wrapped around the hilt of a long, wicked-sharp blade, coated with grime of questionable origin and nature. Its muscled left arm grew into a bunch of tentacles, bristling with gory spikes, hooks and other shudder-inducing implements of pain, which ended either in said implements or weighty steel balls

The Casterwills and Silent Soldiers alike flinched and withdrew (Cherit cowered behind a boulder), but the Titans showed no such hesitation. Aberrus evaded a clumsy, but potentially devastating, punch from Coralgolem, and counterattacked by extending its tentacles, which seemed capable of growth-on-demand (and came with free nasty-protrusions-of-torture). The tentacles slipped around Coralgolem, driving their attachments into his rocky skin, creating spiderwebs of cracks all over it, and bound him completely, sending him crashing to the ground.

The mighty Titan was not so easily bested. He strained against the tentacles, tearing them apart in gory explosions. The Silent Soldiers counted themselves lucky to have been missed the flying bits of Titan tentacle, which still retained their torturous attachments, while the Casterwills stuck ever closer to their boulder.

Clambering to his feet, Coralgolem lunged at Aberrus, fully intent on putting the monstrosity out of commission with a single mighty blow, but was stopped dead in his tracks by a magical blast projected from Aberrus' blade, which slammed the great Titan backwards into the ground, defeating him.

Mallory and White made the Sign of the Cross, and then joined Viviane, who was trembling in sheer terror, in cowering behind their boulder, as Aberrus launched another blast at them.

"Finish them!" ordered the traitor.

The Silent Soldiers each raised an amulet of their choice.

"Embrace madness!" three called, "HARLEKIN!"

"Bring chaos!" came another three, "MARAUDER!"

"Seal their fate," cried one more, "NIGHLURKER!" (A/N My brother finds this one creepy. So does the wiki, apparently)

"Tear them apart!" one more shouted, "HEXACROS! (A/N new Titan)"

A ferocious bipedal creature, four red eyes glowing, vicious blade-like talons for fingers, materialised, its golden spiked shell gleaming, venom-tipped tail weaving and twisting, as if it had a mind of its own. Claws projected from its feet, two facing the front, and two facing the back, digging into the ground for stability.

The Seekers and Titans descended upon the unfortunate Casterwills.

The Silent Soldiers closed in, Nullcurses at the ready.

White and Mallory peeked out, firing Kindlestrikes at the advancing Spiral hordes, with no effect.

Nullcurses sailed overhead, exploding against the cave wall.

Viviane's arms were wrapped around her knees, her face pressed into them, eyes squeezed shut, forcing tears down her face.

The two men turned to the tearful girl.

"We…humbly apologise, young mistress," Mallory said sincerely, himself tearing up.

He turned to his colleague.

"It's been an honour," he grasped White's hand.

"As it has been for me," he said, shaking Mallory's hand.

The duo drew their swords, and picked up their shields.

"We can't stop them, young mistress, but Casterwills die. They do not surrender," White said.

Mallory nodded, "Evil may triumph here today, young mistress, and we may fall to these monsters, but we will live on, in the other Casterwills, in the Foundation, in the endless struggle against evil and chaos."

Viviane looked up, renewed, fiery determination in her eyes.

"The Casterwills have defeated greater evils than this. I won't let my family down!"

Viviane gathered the energy of a Boltflare to her hand.

Mallory sighed heavily. Two old men and a little girl against nine Titans, eight Silent Soldiers, and one traitorous Casterwill who seemed to have mastered the mightiest spells of both the Casterwill and Spiral schools of magic.

"At my signal," he whispered.

He peeked out from behind the rocks at the Titans closing in.

He held up three fingers.

Two.

One.

The Huntik team, with Den in front, burst into the cavern.

"OVERSLAM!" screamed Den, forcefully knocking two Silent Soldiers to the ground.

"What?" the Casterwills peeked out from behind the rock.

The Spiral force whirled about to face their attackers.

Lok briefly surveyed the composition of his opponents' forces.

"Everyone, attack!" he ordered his team.

John noticed the water.

_Let's hope the Casterwill magic here is sympathetic!_

"_Certa bonum certamen_!" (A/N Latin: fight the good fight) he shouted, "SEASHADOW! (A/N New titan)"

A tall warrior, clad in a suit of navy and black full-body light armour, fingers curled about the hilt of a cruciform arming sword, formed in front of John.

"Seashadow, enter the waters, and ambush anyone that comes by!"

The Titan nodded, and proceeded to sprint towards the water, deftly traversing the obstacles in his path, and using a rock to give himself a leg up as he dove in.

(A/N Protip: start playing the Huntik theme just about here)

"No holding back!" Lok pumped his fist in the air.

"LINDORM!"

Sophie outstretched her hand.

"Fight with me, SABRIEL!"

"Fight for your lady," Zhalia produced her amulet, "KILTHANE!"

"Make them tremble!" Harrison called, "ANTEDELUVIAN!"

"Blood and glory, GLADIUS! (A/N New titan)" Kevin roared.

He summoned forth a warrior covered in dull silver armour, brandishing twin gladii (A/N Plural of gladius).

"CHARGE!" shouted Lok, and the five Titans attacked the ranks of Silent Soldiers and their Titans.

Den had, unfortunately, invoked the ire of the two more powerful Titans that the Silent Soldiers had summoned: Nighlurker and Hexacros.

In a panic, he whipped out an amulet.

"Even the odds!" he cried frantically, "VIGILANTE!"

His signature Titan materialised before him.

"Powerbonded Vigilante, activate Cindercloak!"

Den felt Vigilante's essence embracing him, imbuing him with strength, alacrity and skill.

He lunged out of the way just in time, as Hexacros' talons scarred the ground.

Rolling back onto his feet, he ignored his attackers, and sprinted straight towards the boulder which the Spirals had been targeting.

He expertly traversed it, slipping over and behind it, as Aberrus launched another blast at him.

"Viviane!" he turned to the girl, embracing her briefly.

"Den," she smiled, tears of fear turning to tears of joy.

"You came for me!" she threw her arms around him.

A Marauder and a Harlekin emerged on the flanks of the small group.

White and Mallory readied their blades and shields.

"Get the Lady of the Lake to safety," Mallory told Den.

He nodded.

"We'll hold these two off! Go!" White shouted, catching a blow from the Harlekin he was facing with his shield.

Den grabbed Viviane's hand, and they ran, as Nullcurses and energy blasts rained down around them.

Lindorm ploughed through a formation of three Silent Soldiers, taking them all out of commission, as Kilthane and Sabriel each engaged a Marauder. Gladius faced a Harlekin, as did Antedeluvian.

Kilthane slammed his shield into his opponent, knocking him off-balance, and finished him with his sword. Sabriel's fancy footwork enabled her to easily outmanoeuvre her opponent, and dispatch him with a thrust to the back. Gladius caught his opponent's claws with his blades, pried his arms apart, then moved in, head-butted the Harlekin, freed his blades and sent twin lances of energy into the dazed Titan, banishing it. Antedeluvian avoided his foe's clumsy strikes, and struck him down from behind.

Kevin himself pursued a Silent Soldier.

"Nimblefire!" he launched himself in the air, armour, katanas, and all.

He landed somewhat heavily in front of the trembling Silent Soldier.

"Nullcurse! NULLCURSE!"

The blasts had no effect.

He raised his blades in the air, and then pointed them at the Silent Soldier.

"MINDBREAK!"

The yellow energies of insanity overwhelmed his foe, as he smiled in sadistic satisfaction.

John had attracted the attention of Hexacros, and was currently backing away towards a body of water, occasionally feinting at his foe with his crystal sword, who was steadily advancing, unsuccessfully swiping at John.

_Wait for it…_

He felt his foot enter the water.

"SEASHADOW! NOW!" he called.

His Titan lunged out of the waters.

John himself thrust aggressively towards his foe, distracting him as his Titan drove his sword into Hexacros' head, banishing it.

He then turned towards the traitor Casterwill, who was directing Aberrus' assault on Viviane and her guardians.

"Seashadow, get back in there. Ambush anything that you can!"

The Titan nodded.

John ran towards the Casterwill, sword at the ready.

"Justice has come, pawn of chaos!" he shouted.

The Casterwill turned, smiling viciously.

"Shadowgrip!"

John's eyes widened in fear.

"Formbre-ungh!"

The tentacle of shadow wrapped around his throat, killing the spell.

John struggled to break free, pulling at the tentacle with his hands, but to no avail.

The traitor swung John towards the right, slamming him into the wall, then to the left, then against the ceiling, and then on the floor, before finally flinging him – hard – against the far wall of the cave.

John tumbled to the ground, a crumpled mess.

"Ow," he groaned, not moving.

Sophie and Lok each traded blows with a Silent Soldier, while Zhalia kept Nighlurker pinned down, and Harrison ran to assist his brother.

White shoved Harlekin with his shield, sending the Titan stumbling back.

"Lightedge!" he struck it down.

Mallory pushed one of Marauder's blades aside with his shield, and then deflected the other with his sword, dropped the weapon, and then used his now-free right hand to blast the Titan in his chest.

"Kindlestrike!" he banished the Titan.

"Quick, to Lady Viviane!" White said.

The two men ran to join Den and Viviane, dodging another of Aberrus' blasts as the monstrous Titan approached them, while Harrison manoeuvred around the fighting to join them.

Lok slipped under an attempted headlock by his opponent, and dispatched him with a blow from his weapon's pommel.

"Guys! Get all your Titans to hit that thing!" Lok ordered Kevin, Sophie, Zhalia and Harrison.

Harrison paused temporarily to comply with the order.

"Antedeluvian! Attack!"

He then deftly evaded an energy blast from Aberrus, and resumed running towards his brother.

"Sabriel!" shouted Sophie, throwing her opponent into a rock and knocking him out, "get that thing!"

"Gladius, cut it apart!" Kevin growled.

"Kilthane, bring it down!" Zhalia said, dodging another one of Nighlurker's lunges.

"I can handle myself here!"

"Powerbonded Lindorm!" Lok shouted, swinging his blade, "Activate Spinner Slash!"

Two whirling yellow energy projectiles shot forth from Lok, as Lindorm ploughed into the monster, the two projectiles following shortly after.

The attack was forceful enough to knock Aberrus to the ground, but not to banish it.

A well-placed blast, directed at Lindorm while he was recovering, banished him instead.

Lok's jaw fell open in shock, as the creature swung its tentacle-whips at the approaching Sabriel, taking her out of commission too.

Antedeluvian swooped in from one side, but was ensnared and subsequently crushed by the mass of tentacles.

Gladius sneakily blasted the creature while it was tied down by Antedeluvian, but Aberrus shrugged it off and returned fire, destroying him.

Aberrus turned its attention to Kilthane next, ripping his shield from his grasp with its tentacles and leaving him undefended against its brutal energy blast.

Zhalia, Sophie, and Lok looked at each other in shock, while the reunited Den and Harrison were too busy protecting Viviane from Aberrus' continued barrage of energy blasts to care.

"That thing just took out five Titans in ten seconds!" Lok cried.

"RAAARGH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Kevin screamed, rushing at the creature, hurling spells and swearwords at it.

"Lok, I have a plan," Sophie said. "I'll attack the Seeker instead of his Titan, and maybe I can capture the amulet."

"Then I can use Sorrowbond on it. Quick thinking, Casterwill," Zhalia smiled, somewhat sardonically.

Sophie ignored her.

"You!" she shouted, running towards the traitor.

He turned to face his adversary.

"I, Sophie Casterwill, Leader of the Casterwill Elders, will not let you lay a _finger_ on the members of _my_ family!' she cried, eyes burning.

He laughed cruelly.

"I'm a Casterwill too, you know."

Sophie stopped dead in her tracks.

"_What?_"

"Yes. My father was a Casterwill, and I have the powers of the blood."

Sophie's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened.

"Then why would you do all this? Why would you lead the Blood Spirals here and try to kill your own family?"

"Why not?" he cackled insanely.

"SUNLOCK!"

Golden energies shot towards Sophie.

_Not again…!_

"Sophie!" Lok cried.

"Things just got a whole lot worse," he muttered to himself.

The traitor was more thorough than Lucas, making sure to gag Sophie so as to prevent her from using any spells.

The traitor hurled a Nullcurse at Kevin's feet.

"Aberrus! Activate DEFILE!" he pointed at Sophie.

"NO!" Lok screamed.

Kevin and the traitor fired on each other, as the monstrous Titan glid towards the struggling Sophie, who could clearly see the approaching monstrosity, and easily inferred her imminent fate.

"Mmm!"

Her struggling caused her to crash to the ground. The spell had bound her legs too.

Aberrus' tentacles shot forth.

Sophie eyes widened.

"MMMMM!"

"SOPHIE!" Lok screamed, running towards her.

_I can't stop that thing. So I'll have to free Sophie. But I don't know Breakspell…_

He recalled John's lecture.

"_Formbreak essentially does the same thing as Breakspell, but works in a far more efficient fashion._"

_Only one chance to save Sophie!_ (A/N Bear in mind that these tentacles are lined with spikes and hooks. The traitor is a perverted psychopath.)

He summoned all his valour and willpower, and screamed, with all the passion with which he had just screamed Sophie's name, "FORMBREAK!"

Tears of joy flowed down Lok's face as, in slow motion, the blue-purple tide of energy surged from his hand towards Sophie.

There was a brilliant flash of golden energy, singeing the tips of the tentacles which were about to mutilate Sophie, as she screamed, frantically, "Hyperstride!"

The tentacles, undeterred, reached forth, only to plunge into nothingness.

"YES!" Lok screamed, ecstatic, running towards Sophie.

Sophie smiled, similarly shedding tears of joy and running to embrace him.

But before they reached each other, there was another flash, as Lok tumbled to the ground, unconscious and severely wounded.

"LOK!" she screamed, anguished.

The traitor cackled viciously, as he and Aberrus swapped opponents once more.

"How sweet," he hissed, "but you know he'll just use you and then abandon you."

Sophie's eyes burned with rage, tears running down her face.

"How _DARE_ you! BOLTFLARE!" she screamed, blasting the traitor to the ground.

She ran to Lok's side, struggling to remember a spell she had learnt in the past month from Lady S, Metz's nurse.

"Everheal!" she cried frantically.

"EVERHEAL!"

Golden energy surrounded Lok's body, as he groaned and struggled to get up.

"LOK!" she screamed with joy, and hugged him.

She gazed into his eyes, as he smiled weakly.

"You saved me," she whispered, eyes brimming with tears of joy.

"You're my hero. My knight. My Champion."

Lok was still in a bit of a daze, but his mind was sufficiently functional to know what was going on.

She leaned in, as he smiled ecstatically…

"Nullcurse!"

"AAH!" Sophie crashed to the ground.

Lok sprang to his feet, incensed.

"Oops!" the traitor giggled.

"You'll pay for that! Bladecall!" he shouted, and launched an energy projectile at his foe.

White, Mallory, Den and Harrison and Viviane looked upon the scene. The enemy forces lay shattered on the ground, but Zhalia was not making much progress against the elusive Nighlurker (her somewhat thoughtless choice of a dark corner of the cavern being a large contributing factor).

"We've got to hit that thing with everything we've got," Viviane said.

"There's only one chance, young mistress!" said Mallory.

"Of course!" she cried. "The Newlife spell!"

"It's our only hope!" White said.

Den looked into Viviane's eyes.

"I know you can do this, Viviane," he took her hands.

"You must."

She nodded, steely determination in her eyes.

She lifted her hand to eye level, gazing into the ring Sophie gave her.

"Newlife!" she cried.

It glowed with power.

The eyes of each of the Seekers in the cave lighted up, and they were filled with valour and courage, as the mighty leonine Titan materialised.

Sophie joined Lok, as he redoubled his efforts, and the two of them launched blast after blast of energy at the traitor.

Mythras projected a beam of energy towards John, reviving the crippled Seeker.

He broke off another crystal spike.

"Formblade!"

Zhalia dodged another lunge from Nighlurker, as it faded into the shadows.

"Boltflare!"

There was a flash behind her as the Titan was banished.

Zhalia turned to see Dante standing there.

"Dante!" she smiled.

He stepped forth to embrace her.

"You didn't think I'd put my fiancée in danger, did you?" he smiled back, kissing her briefly.

"Time to wrap things up!"

He pulled two amulets out.

"Metagolem! Caliban!"

"Seashadow, join the attack!" John ordered his Titan.

"You asked for this!" shouted Lok, as his opponent dodged another attack and returned fire, but missed.

"Awaken, Legendary Titan of Champions: PENDRAGON!"

Aberrus turned first to Metagolem, intending to ensnare him with his tentacles, but was put out of commission by twin blasts from Pendragon and Mythras.

Surrounded and exhausted, the traitor had no choice but to flee.

"Fireport!" he said, disguising his fear with mock laughter, as he vanished, leaving a flaming aura behind.

The Seekers looked at each other, smiles forming on their faces.

* * *

Lok and Sophie sat together on the Dragon's Cliff, watching the sunset.

The two lovers in denial were silent, bathed in golden light, not even daring to touch, but each deriving quiet joy simply by being next to each other.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sophie said, idly swinging her legs back and forth over the cliff as she smiled happily.

"Huh? I-what-um…"

"The sunset," she said softly, the smile starting to fade.

"Yeah," he said, recovering. "It is."

_But not as beautiful as you_, he thought, but did not have the courage to say.

"_I just realised. Summer vacation is almost over. The most incredible summer of my life,_" he recalled telling her, just the day before they set out to defeat the Professor, as they sat on the roof of Dante's house, looking out towards the sea, watching the sun rise.

"_The most incredible summer of your life _so far_, you mean,_" Sophie had corrected him.

She had no idea how true that statement would turn out to be.

_First we get to fight the Blood Spirals and save the world, and now we've got this crazy traitor Casterwill and another, bigger comet on the loose. And, of course, we both just almost died._

_ But the main reason it's been so amazing is because Sophie's always been there by my side._

"Thanks for saving me, Lok," she said, her leg-shaking becoming more nervous than idle.

"No problem, Sophie. I'm used to it," he said, attempting to segue into natural conversation.

Her smile returned. "Hey, I healed you after you got blasted too. Doesn't that count as saving you as well?"

They both shuddered internally as they remembered what Sophie, so gripped by passion, so fearful for his life, and so relieved at his safety, had almost done after healing him. And both silently cursed the traitorous Casterwill.

"We almost died back there," Lok laughed, treating the situation with a somewhat perverse levity.

Sophie took his hand, wrapping her fingers around it, and turned her body to face him.

"Lok…our lives suddenly became very different on that fateful day when I went to your dorm. But now…everything's so much more dangerous. You saw what that Seeker could do. He was trying to get his Titan to kill Viviane! And then he…"

She averted his gaze, looking down.

"Remember," she said timidly, "in King Solomon's Mines? When…when you said you wanted us to have a chance…to be together?"

"Yes?" he whispered, ecstasy creeping through his being.

She gazed into his eyes.

"Our lives are dangerous, Lok. We could have died back there. You've saved me before but…this was so close. And there's no telling what'll happen tomorrow, or if we'll even make it through alive."

Her fingers slowly crept further up his arm, gently curling about his forearm.

He savoured the feel of her delicate, cool, perfect skin.

"Lok…I…all I want, for the rest of my life, is to be by your side. Adventuring, studying, fighting evil, saving the world…I don't care, as long as I do it with _you_," she said, tenderly and passionately, a teardrop falling onto her thumb, and then rolling onto his skin.

"But…we could die, Lok," she whispered. "Just like that."

"And then…then we'll never have the chance to do things together again…and we'll lose the chance…to _be_ together…" she sobbed gently, more tears falling.

Sophie felt Lok's free arm slipping around her, and he let her hand travel further up his arm, to slip around his shoulder, and then put his newly-freed arm around her other shoulder, pulling her close into a comforting embrace.

"We _do_ have a chance, Sophie," he said tenderly, as she cried softly into his shoulder.

"This is that chance," he said, as she emerged from his arms, locking gazes with him, and they both stood up.

Lok was that close to trembling with sheer terror; his phobia of being rejected eating him from the inside out. He loved Sophie, but he would rather live in doubt as her friend than risk being rejected. It would crush him. He knew he should go in for a kiss, but he simply couldn't bring himself to.

"Lok…I…this feeling…" she averted his gaze again. "I…I've heard about it, read about it, even toyed with it…but…but I don't know what to do. I show the world a confident Casterwill princess, brilliant, skilled, able to do anything and everything. But you know that's not what I really am. When I tried to lead the Casterwills…you were by my side all the way through. Whenever I was in danger, whenever I needed you, you were there, Lok. There are many things that I couldn't have done without you. You know this. And this is one of them. I can't fight it, Lok. I _need_ you by my side. When you see me flirting…you'd think that this would be easy for me, just another subject I ace with ease. But it's not, Lok."

"I've always wanted to fall in love, but at the same time I was…afraid of it. Afraid of how great, how intense, how…how _overwhelming_ true love is in the fairy tales. And now I know I was right to be afraid. I've needed you for so much, Lok, even when the world expects me not to need _anyone_. What makes you think that love is any different?"

There was a brief moment of silence, as they held each other, gazes once more locked.

_Sophie just said she loved me!_

_But…_

"You…you deserve better than this, Sophie," Lok finally said, turning away, unable to look her, the object of his passion, but even more so, his love, in the eye. "You're a princess, the leader of the Casterwill Elders, and…and I'm just a boy. Your friend."

"No, Lok," she said, her voice burning, gently turning his head so they faced each other once more.

"You're more than that to me. If I'm a princess, you're my knight in shining armour. My Champion."

"But…but…"

_I'm begging him to kiss me! Why won't he? I told him I love him, and he told me he loves me, so…_

The same thought occurred to both at the same time.

"Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye/Than twenty of their swords," he whispered.

The golden blaze of the setting sun was beginning to take on rosier hues.

"Fear no more, my hero…" she whispered, with unparalleled sincerity and passion.

She mustered all her courage. She did not lie when she said she didn't know how to handle being in love. And she hated not knowing what to do. But she loved Lok even more, and she knew what she had to do if she wanted them to be together.

"…because…I love you."

And it was at that very moment that truest joy surged through their very beings, that their deepest fears dissolved into nothing, that they felt like they could do anything, and that neither of them would have minded dying, in that single moment of perfect contentment. As long as they died together, of course.

And so they kissed, bathed in the rose-golden light of the dusk sun.

Lok would forever remember the velvety softness and the warmth, like a fireplace on a cold winter night, of Sophie's lips.

The gentle firmness with which Lok held Sophie lingered. It never really left her after that.

"Look at them!" Dante laughed softly, one arm around Zhalia's, as the team, plus Viviane, White and Mallory, watched on.

"Ah, young love," Mallory smiled, as he gazed upwards, reminiscing.

White and Viviane chuckled.

Dante and Zhalia themselves kissed briefly.

"Well, now everyone's happy," Zhalia smiled.

"Everyone in the original team, that is," Cherit chipped in.

John cocked his head.

_Challenge accepted._

"So," John asked Kevin, "what do you think of that girl Renee back at base?"

Kevin glared at him.

"Oh, right! Vows of chastity."

John smiled somewhat wickedly.

"And to think you gave all this up," he chuckled, gesturing to Lok and Sophie.

"MINDBREAK!"

"Aah! Formbreak!"

The others laughed as John composed himself after Kevin's attempt to drive him insane.

The two teenage lovers, on the other hand, were completely absorbed in each other, as they generally were, but this time to an infinitely deeper level.

As they held each other, their lips touching in a timeless symbol of intimacy and passion, they could feel themselves growing ever closer to each other. In their embrace, the outside world had faded. All that each could feel was the warm body of the person they loved the most in the world, held close against their own, and the softness of their beloved's lips on theirs, as they held them in their arms.

In this embrace, they were alone. They were together. And they knew, and they kept telling each other, that one enduring truth which they both burned to know: they loved each other.

After a long, wonderful while, they reluctantly emerged from their perfect embrace.

Lok breathed deeply. He knew that it had been very difficult for Sophie to speak those three words, which contained greater magic than any spell either would ever know. It was only fair for him to give as much for her.

"Sophie," he asked, his voice somewhat unsteady.

"Yes, Lok?" she whispered, an anticipant smile on her lips.

"When we're old enough, will you…will you marry me?"

Sophie's smile grew ever wider.

"Yes! YES!" she laughed ecstatically.

She kissed him passionately again.

"I love you, Lok," Sophie said gently, breaking the kiss after another blissful eternity spent lip-locked. She took his hands once more and gazed into his eyes. "I really do. And I'm absolutely sure that you're the only one I ever want to be with. I know it. I would marry you now if I could, and I would never regret it."

"Me too, Sophie. I…three years before all this Seeker junk started, when I first met you…it…it's like a piano fell on my head. I mean, you're really pretty, and cute, and smart, and all (Sophie's cheeks reddened, the tender praise from her new boyfriend swelling the tides of tender emotion within her)…but this was different. It's not just another crush, Sophie. I want _you_, not just your prettiness or cuteness or smartness. I _love_ you. I would _die_ for you, Sophie. No second thoughts. But it'd be so much better if I could just _be_ with you, forever. So much better, simply _to be together_."

"Yes, Lok. Yes, it would."

They smiled sweetly, holding hands, gazes locked, each simply savouring the other, for a long, tender moment, tears of pure joy rolling down the faces of both.

* * *

"Alright, now that the two lovebirds have deigned to join us," John smiled mischievously, "we can begin."

"Chronocall!" John said.

A white-based Tome, with golden highlights, materialised in John's hands.

"The Casterwills may have created the first iteration of what the Foundation now calls Holotomes, but the Order is quick to discover and learn. Not so much to act," he explained.

"Though constructing a summon spell, similar to the Casterwill Cyphercall, was child's play for the Order Seekers."

John flipped it open.

"Anyway, to business. For the benefit of Mr Vale and his original team, here is the data on the Titans they have not encountered before this point. Chronicler, retrieve the data on the Titans Aberrus, Hexacros, Gladius and Seashadow."

The Chronicler projected a deep purple display.

"Aberrus. Attack: 5. Defence: 8. Type: Yama-Titan Aberration. Size: Large. Special Abilities: Defile, High-Powered Energy Blast, Flight," it chanted lyrically.

The others looked at him quizzically.

"The Seeker Prior at that time loved Gregorian chant," he said matter-of-factly.

"Hexacros. Attack: 2. Defence: 3. Type: Hecto-Titan Warrior. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Rampage."

"Gladius. Attack: 5. Defence: 4. Type: Krono-Titan Warrior. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Dual Wield, Energy Blast."

"Seashadow. Attack: 4. Defence: 2. Type: Draco-Titan Assassin. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Perfect Disguise, Aquatic Superiority."

"This battle has revealed some interesting things. For example, I have no idea what this traitor Casterwill is trying to do. Killing Viviane most likely wasn't worth fifty Silent Soldiers."

"Uh, Dante, you told HQ about all these guys we captured, right?" Lok gestured to the horde of bound and gagged Silent Soldiers.

"Not yet. Something seems to have come up with the Holotome," Dante said, fiddling with his device.

John cleared his throat. "Anyway, he may project the illusion of insanity, but do not underestimate him. Despite appearing sadistic, perverse, and psychotic, he shows a remarkable degree of cunning. Even the androgyny and perversion may be part of a false image he is attempting to project."

"At any rate, two questions remain. One, how did he attain all these powers and Titans? The Sunburst spell is exceedingly rare, but also exceedingly destructive, and an ancient spell that Miss Sophie would do well to learn, if we are to have any chance against this foe. And while possessing the rarest and most powerful of Casterwill spells, this man also possessed knowledge of the Shadowgrip spell. Blood Spiral magic. Two schools of arcane magic, both exceedingly powerful. He may have mastered both, making him one of the most dangerous men alive. More importantly, that one Titan of his, Aberrus, is one of the most powerful any of us have ever encountered. In terms of basic stats, it might be outdone by some Titans, but the weaponry at its disposal makes it extremely lethal. You all saw what it did to your Titans. And that was just _one_ Titan. Who knows what other monstrosities he has in his pocket?"

"Two, why do the Spirals obey him? This is potentially the more worrying issue: it is that the fanatics have defected, and chosen to serve some private agenda, or that the traitor is simply that, and has chosen to betray the Casterwill family and serve evil instead of fighting it. Why? We don't know. But he must be stopped. Whatever it is he is working towards, it can't be good."

"So, it's most likely he betrayed the Casterwills?" Lok asked.

"Yes," John nodded.

"So…he's a…Second Betrayer?" Sophie mused.

"That would be an appropriate title. Alright, one more thing. Since the Second Betrayer did not invoke Void, there are only three possibilities. One, he does not have Void, in which case the chances of knowing of the Greater Red Comet are vanishingly small; two, he has Void but doesn't want us to know, in which case he is a man of more cunning that I had expected, and also significantly more dangerous than you might think; or three, he simply did not have the  
energy to invoke it, which is the most probable, given the number of spells he cast, the amount of damage he took, and the Titan he summoned. In this case things are significantly more complicated: our opponent may have Void but may or may not realise its significance, and also may or may not have received knowledge of the Greater Red Comet from the Titan. The latter dichotomy also applies to him attempting to disguise the Titan from us."

"There!" exclaimed Dante.

"Alright, don't worry, John; I heard everything. Now we'll just call for help to haul these guys back to HQ for questioning, and we can be on our way home, until the Second Betrayer strikes again," Dante said.

"Metz!" Dante smiled at his mentor's hologram.

The man looked harried and exhausted.

"Ah, Dante! We have been trying to contact you for the past few hours!"

Dante's eyes widened with concern. "What's going on?"

"The Stonehenge, in England! A massive force of…of _thousands_ of Silent Soldiers spontaneously captured it! The military is on its way, but we have no idea what the Spirals intend to do!"

John's eyes widened.

"Then…then that…"

"That was a distraction!" Zhalia cried.

Sophie gasped.

"Oh no…Stonehenge is a Casterwill site that can open portals to other worlds! The Second Betrayer could easily use it to teleport the Greater Red Comet here, or…or even bring back the Nullifiers!"

The rest echoed her gasp.

"Metz," Dante said to his Holotome, "You heard her. Get every Seeker you can to Stonehenge _now_."

Dante's mentor nodded.

"I understand. But I expect answers later."

"Answers can wait, Metz. Stopping the Spirals cannot."

Metz's hologram vanished.

"Seekers, we have a mission."

The Holotome projected a card.

"Mission: The Battle of Stonehenge. Foil the Blood Spiral plans regarding the Stonehenge, which may involve the summoning of either the Nullifiers or the Greater Red Comet, and provide assistance in the attempt to recapture Stonehenge from Blood Spiral forces."

Dante pocketed the card.

"Everyone, to the jet!" he shouted.

"What about the prisoners?" asked Harrison.

"Leave them. We can come back later. It's more important that we stop them, whatever they're up to," Dante replied.

"Mr Vale, if you would be so kind to permit us passage?" Mallory enquired.

"After all, this is Casterwill business," White said.

"Sure, there're extra seats in the jet," Den said, somewhat overenthusiastically.

"Alright. Now let's not just stand about and talk," Dante said, breaking into a run.

"We have a world to save."

"Again," Lok, Sophie and Zhalia added.

_To be continued…_

**A/N Even bigger cliffhanger! Yay!**

**Also, Sophie and Lok! Yay! Honestly, I preferred this couple. That's why Dante and Zhalia have their moment in Chapter 1, but for these two there's still build-up, see, in addition to all the tension already built up in the series.**

**Many thanks to my brother, who designed Aberrus, Hexacros and Gladius. I suck at designing Titans, so this would have taken even longer, and the story would probably have been less awesome, had it not been for him.**

**Once more, please review!**


	4. Chapter 4: Cataractæ Cæli Apertæ

Chapter 4: Cataractæ Cæli Apertæ

**A/N Doesn't everyone just love Latin?**

** Also, warning: some strong language near the end.**

"Police have evacuated a five-kilometre radius around the iconic Stonehenge amidst even more reports of a massive unidentified force of at least a thousand heavily armed men seizing the site without making any demands or offering any explanation. Police report that at least a hundred civil servants have disappeared while investigating these reports or assisting with evacuations, and at least forty are confirmed dead."

Dante closed his Holotome, expression grim, and switched off the autopilot, manually guiding the plane towards Stonehenge.

"So, what's up with Stonehenge?" Lok asked Sophie, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Well," she said, sitting up, "After the Nullifiers were defeated, Lord Casterwill's children realised that they might not be able to stop them if they were to come again. So they devised a backup plan. If the Nullifiers were winning, the population of the Earth, which was at the time still quite small, would be evacuated to Huntik using several sites throughout the world, such as Stonehenge."

"The thing is," John butted in, to the notable disappointment of the couple, now deprived of privacy, "the sites allowed gates to be opened to _any_ corporeal world, including the Sea of Chaos where the Nullifiers reside. The site probably operates by bloodline, so this Second Betrayer could easily do just that, and summon them to the gateway using Void, if he has it."

"Exactly," Sophie said. "The Casterwill family has always stuck together, and even so those few tragic cases who were separated from the rest of us almost never turned out evil. And still, only the Elders should know of this. I'm not sure how he discovered this secret, but the only thing that matters now is stopping him."

"We're almost there," Dante announced calmly, drawing the attention of the other occupants of the plane.

The sight of Stonehenge slowly grew in their field of vision. It glowed reddish-black; the Casterwill site meant to protect mankind from the grip of chaos ironically protected by a dark spell.

"No need to crowd around," Dante addressed his teammates, who were swarming the cockpit, trying to get a better view.

His fingers danced across the controls, and the screens in front of each of the passenger seats began displaying the feed from a camera.

The team returned to their seats, as they scrutinised the site they were approaching.

Metz had not exaggerated. The Stonehenge was crawling with Spirals and their Titans. They had heavily fortified the place with magical traps, turrets and barriers. The Spirals had seized the area around Stonehenge in a radius of approximately one kilometre, and had fortified a car park near the site.

"That escalated quickly," John muttered under his breath.

"Metz says the Seekers are gathered at a forest about one kilometre west of Stonehenge," Dante said.

Den, Harrison and Zhalia's tattoos glowed brilliantly.

"Dammit…" Zhalia snarled, clutching her arm.

Dante was about to extend a hand to comfort her, when an explosion rocked the plane.

He checked the radar.

"Spirals, five at three, and five at nine," Dante said.

"Don't worry," Lok said confidently, "We can handle this."

"Let's go, Kipperin!"

"Let me help!" Sophie said.

"Fly swiftly, Icarus!"

John breathed deeply.

"Time to put my birthday present to use!" Dante said.

"Take flight, Solwing!"

"Alright," Lok said, "we're ready!"

Dante opened the doors.

"Doublespell! Huntsprite!" John shouted, blasting two of the Silent Soldiers out of the sky as Zhalia's Strix bombarded the other three, taking them out of commission and clearing the way for the others.

Lok, Icarus and Solwing flew out as Sophie shouted after her boyfriend, "Be careful, Lok!"

"Let's do this!" he shouted.

"Raypulse!" he cried, as he dodged a Nullcurse.

A Silent Soldier fell out of the sky.

Icarus fired and Solwing dived, each producing the same effect as Lok's spell.

"Boltflare! Boltflare!" Lok blasted the last two out of the sky.

"Yeah!" he pumped his fist in the air, as he flew back into the plane.

Dante closed the doors as the Titans returned to their amulets.

"Good job. Now we'll need a plan…"

"AAAH!" Zhalia screamed, grabbing her arm.

"Zhalia!" Dante cried, concerned.

"I was about to say, where do you think the Second Betrayer is right now? I hope to God that I'm wrong, but I think we just found out!" John said frantically, his words barely intelligible.

There was another explosion, this one much more violent.

"I have a plan!" John shouted, as Dante turned away from tending to his fiancée to swerving the plane to dodge another spell.

"Dante, don't dodge the next shot. Zhalia, create the illusion that the plane exploded. Then we land the plane."

"Alright, since we've got no alternatives…" Dante said as he complied.

The next explosion seemed cataclysmic, but the plane survived.

"Findshape!" Sophie called, mending some of the damage.

Dante landed the plane, using a suitably-sized grass plain as a makeshift runway, invisible to the eyes of his opponents.

They looked up to see a massive serpentine Titan snaking overhead back to the Stonehenge, carrying two figures.

_Wind and Shauna._

"Well, not the Second Betrayer, but…anyway," John gathered the team, "Here's the plan: Lok, Sophie, Mr Vale and Ms Moon, come with me to where our allies are gathered. We'll attack the Spirals, and try to bait them out, and keep them distracted. Then Lok can use Kipperin to carry Sophie to the Stonehenge and Ms Moon can cloak them both with Thoughtspectre. Lok, take this," John said, producing two blue crystals, and squeezed them together in his hand.

"Gatebind."

The crystals glowed blue.

John handed him one.

"When the Second Betrayer lands and begins his ritual, then the two of you must attack. Lok will put Sophie down and she will use her bloodline to affect the spell and throw him off, and distract him verbally if necessary. When the time is right, give Lok the signal, and he must throw the crystal down behind the Second Betrayer and shout 'Gatecleave'. This is an easy spell; he should be able to use it perfectly. This will open a portal to where we are, and we'll jump through, pushing the Second Betrayer into the portal, and sending him to the wrong place, hopefully forever. "

"Then what about us?" Den asked.

"Den, Kevin, Harrison, Viviane, White and Mallory, get that thing," he gestured towards Shakrit, "and then go join us."

"Gotcha," said Den.

"Let's go!" he led his detachment into a nearby forest.

"Well, Den's certainly grown," Dante remarked, as they headed towards the allies.

"That's right, Lok. He's acting a lot more like you now," Sophie smirked.

As Dante and his detachment got further and further from Den and his, Den turned to Wind and Shauna.

"Alright, here's the plan. Harrison, get Antedeluvian to attack Wind and Shauna, and bait Shakrit down here. White, Mallory and Harrison, knock Shauna and Wind off their Titan and keep them busy. And the rest of us will ambush Shakrit."

"Let's do this!" Harrison shouted.

"Make them tremble, ANTEDELUVIAN!"

The vampiric Titan soared towards Wind and Shauna, rapidly closing the distance with the massive Shakrit.

"And I know how to get rid of that thing," Kevin produced an amulet.

"Chronocall!"

The white-and-gold tome scanned the amulet, and began chanting.

"Iapetus. Attack: 6. Defence: 5. Type: Krono-Titan Warrior. Special Abilities: Explosive Javelins. Summon Spear."

Kevin shut the Chronicler.

"OK," Den said. "Viviane, save Mythras for later. I have a feeling it won't be easy to take Wind and Shauna down after this. White and Mallory, get ready."

"Palamedes! Feyone!"

"Pellinore! Icarus!"

There was a roar and some flashes of light in the sky as Shakrit, Wind and Shauna descended upon the forest.

The members of the Den's team each ducked behind a tree, as did the Casterwill guardians' Titans.

"Get ready," Den hissed.

"Come back here!" Shauna snarled, as a Nullcurse exploded against a tree.

Antedeluvian turned sharply, slipping between two trees, and Sharkit, unable to stop in time, ploughed through them, leaving the two elite Spirals and their Titan dazed.

"NOW!" Den shouted.

"Face them, DULLAHAN!"

"Impale them, IAPETUS!" Kevin roared.

A massive Titan, clad from head to toe in golden Greek armour, materialised, wielding a spear larger than a tree and taller than him.

"Ready for battle, CORALGOLEM!" Viviane called.

The three Titans charged at Shakrit's head, as Palamedes and Pellinore lunged at the riders, slamming them to the ground.

Coralgolem threw his entire weight at one side of Shakrit's head, and Dullahan attacked the other, slamming his flail into the Titan and torching it, while Iapetus launched the frontal assault, launching two explosive javelins at Shakrit's face, then summoning a spear, driving it down into the Titan's head and slamming it to the ground, stopping it in its tracks.

The still-dazed Titan was once more stunned by the triple-pronged attack, and the Foundation Seekers' Titans didn't let up. Coralgolem drove his fists into Shakrit's head again and again, as Iapetus summoned spear after spear, brutally stabbing the Titan over and over, and Dullahan swung repetitively at his opponent with his flail, pausing periodically to unload another blast of flame, while Kevin, Den, and Viviane blasted the Titan with Boltflares.

In a matter of moments, the massive Titan was vanquished, and returned to its Seeker, who had himself barely recovered from the shock of being dragged through a forest at high speed, battered by the branches, and then pounced on by two heavily armoured Titans.

Icarus, Feyone, Harrison, White and Mallory blasted the stunned Spirals, and Antedeluvian swooped down to join the assault, as the other three members of Den's detachment and their Titans turned their attention to them.

The relentless assault of the various elements of the detachment easily overwhelmed the superior Spiral Seekers before either had a chance to invoke a single Titan. By sheer luck, they capitalised on a small window of opportunity which gave them enough time to Fireport to safety before being knocked unconscious.

The Titans returned to their Seekers as the team members looked at each other, smiles slowly growing on their faces.

"Yeah!" Den and Harrison fist-bumped.

"Good work, Den!" Viviane cried, throwing her arms around him, and he hugged her back.

"Excellent strategy, Master Den," Mallory smiled approvingly.

"Leave the congratulations for later," Kevin said.

"We've got a bigger plan to execute."

* * *

"Dante!" Metz hurried to greet his student.

"Thank heaven you're here! We haven't dared make a move. There are far too many Spirals. But if the situation is really as critical as you say it is, we must act, and fast!"

Dante's expression was grim.

"We have to stop the Spirals, at any cost. Their new leader, a Casterwill whom we have termed the Second Betrayer, is en route to use the ancient Casterwill enchantments on the Stonehenge to summon the Nullifiers to Earth. Fortunately, our Vatican contact John," he gestured to the boy, "has a plan."

John nodded in acknowledgement as the assembled Seekers fell silent, all turning to him.

He breathed deeply.

"The primary role of the Seekers gathered here will be to execute a massive assault which would distract the Spirals, and allow Lok Lambert to aerially insert Sophie Casterwill into the vicinity of the central altar of Stonehenge while the Second Betrayer is preparing to open the portal, while masked by Ms. Zhalia Moon's illusion power Thoughtspectre. Sophie will then use her lineage to influence the spell, and, at the right time, signal for Lok to open a portal between here and there. A few of us, like Mr. Vale and myself, will then go through the gate, to surprise and overwhelm the Second Betrayer, and force him through the Stonehenge portal to the wrong location."

"Alright," Metz said, walking up to John. "You heard the boy. Prepare for battle!"

"Grier!" Dante exclaimed, noticing his old friend, garbed in military fatigues.

"Good to see you again," he gripped his hand firmly.

"I've brought some men," Grier said.

"Chaos incarnate threatens the order which I have created for my people. But it shall not triumph, not on my watch."

"That's good to hear," he patted Grier on the shoulder.

"I've been waiting to see how you'd hold up against these Spirals."

"Lucas!" Sophie cried in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"We're all here. All the Elders knew about Stonehenge. And now that we know about this Second Betrayer…There's not a moment to lose, Sophie. Your friend has a good plan. See to it that it succeeds."

She nodded.

"Don't worry, Lucas. I won't let you, or our parents, or our ancestors, down!"

"Alright, Sophie," he smiled gently at her.

"Mum!" Lok ran to hug his mother.

"Lok!" she hugged him back.

"Well, this is familiar, isn't it?" she gestured at the masses of Spirals nearby.

Mother and son chuckled.

"Sure is."

"Don't worry, dear, we're all here to back you and your team up. We defeated these nasty Blood Spirals once, and we can do it again."

"Thanks, Mum," Lok smiled, and hugged his mother.

John cleared his throat.

"Right, anyway, I have the right Titan for the job."

"_Veritas_ (A/N Latin: Truth)! Blackfriar (A/N New Titan)!"

A figure in a plain white robe with a black cloak and hood over it materialised, hovering above the ground. The hood covered all facial features, if any, leaving only a black void for a face. Old, wrinkled hands extended from within the sleeves, levitating a massive, open tome with glowing Latin words on the pages.

"Blackfriar," Metz's Holotome, sitting at the foot of a tree, intoned.

"Attack: 7. Defence: 1. Type: Draco-Titan Sorcerer. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Grand Cannon. Wisdom's Aegis. Lord's Hound. Athena's Light."

"So what's his normal attack?" Sophie enquired.

"He whacks you on the head with the book. It's actually rather painful."

No-one bothered to ask how John would know that.

"Blackfriar is an artillery Titan. His special abilities can rain all sorts of devastation on distant targets, without them being able to hit back."

"But can he take all of them out?" Montehue asked.

"No, but he's enough to get their attention. And that's all we need."

John continued. "Now, Lok, Sophie, and Ms Moon, move off to one side. A direct approach will probably be noticed, but a side assault will have a better chance. Mr Vale, go with them to protect them. And when the portal opens, both of you should come back as quickly as possible to join the fight."

"Don't worry, I've got transportation covered," Sophie said, producing an amulet.

"The two of you will be back in a jiffy with…the Riderless Chariot!" she said, invoking the Titan.

"And I'll go along to give Zhalia an energy boost. It's quite a distance from here to Stonehenge, and she has to keep the illusion up all the way," Cherit said.

"Good," John nodded, as the team loaded onto the Chariot.

"Remember, only go when you get our signal. Mr. Vale, keep your Holotome active. We'll contact you with that."

"Now, let's get started. The Spirals have entrenched themselves in a car park, yes?"

"That's right," Metz said, picking up his Holotome and projecting an image of the battlefield.

"Over there," he pointed to the hologram.

"Well, then, Blackfriar, activate Grand Cannon!"

The words on the tome glowed brilliantly, and several orange orbs burst forth from the pages, sailing towards the pinpointed location.

"Chronocall!" John said, summoning his Chronicler.

He flipped it open, displaying a real-time 3D simulation of the projectiles in flight.

"I calibrated it to help me track Blackfriar's Grand Cannon bomblets," John explained.

As the orbs impacted the Spiral forward base, the assembled Seekers could clearly hear the thunderous explosions nearly a kilometre away.

"Holotome, zoom in on the car park," Metz said.

The Spirals were scattered, most of the Titans banished, the cars that were formerly there blown to smithereens, their fortifications reduced to rubble, and the ground cracked, scorched and cratered.

Conversation rippled through the group.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please, I do believe we've just alerted them to our presence and location."

The conversation was stilled.

"And now we'll just have to fight them off until the Second Betrayer arrives and we ruin his plans. So get ready for the fight of your lives!"

John produced a couple of amulets.

"Seashadow! Xuanwu (A/N New Titan)!"

A huge black-shelled tortoise, with a serpent coiled around it, materialised.

"Xuanwu," John's Chronicler chanted.

"Attack: 1. Defence: 5. Type: Yama-Titan Enchanter. Size: Large. Special Abilities: Healing Mist. Restore. Freeze. Rejuvenate. Weaken."

"Xuanwu is a support Titan. He's not capable of doing much direct damage, but he can turn the tide of a battle. I don't think the Spirals will give me time to explain, so I'll let his actions speak for him."

"Seashadow, Perfect Disguise!"

The Titan morphed into a Harlekin, and made pitch-perfect snarling, growling sounds as it concealed itself, ready to join the Spiral ranks at the right time and tear them apart from the inside.

The rest of the Seekers summoned their Titans.

"Hunt them down, ORION!" several of the Foundation Seekers called.

Lightly-armoured, grey-green-skinned humanoid Titans, wielding ornate greatbows, materialised.

"Orion," intoned Metz's Holotome. "Attack: 4. Defence: 2. Type: Krono-Titan Sharpshooter. Size: Average. Special Ability: Enchanted Arrows."

Blackfriar's Grand Cannon bomblets continued to rock the Spiral forces, as the Orions laid down a blanket of arrows, scattering and slowing the advancing hostile Seekers and banishing their Titans.

But still, the thousands-strong Spiral horde was not that easily deterred, and crawled, slowly but inexorably, towards the Foundation Seekers and their allies.

Wind and Shauna looked on, still recovering from their trauma at Den and his team's hands, as their fellow Spirals were cut down.

"Incompetent fools!" Shauna snarled.

"You!" she snapped at a small team of Spirals.

She tossed them a handful of amulets.

"These are Lamiae (A/N Plural of Lamia). They'll give those Foundation fools a taste of their own medicine!"

"Yes, mistress," the Silent Soldiers said, falling to their knees and scrambling to grab the amulets.

"Rain hell, LAMIA!"

Serpentine creatures covered in black shells materialised. Grotesque tentacles protruded from the gaps in its black shell, with huge, equally repulsive eyeballs attached to their ends.

"Lamia," a nearby Loreslave on the ground began.

"Attack: 4. Defence: 4. Type: Krono-Titan Sorceress. Special Ability: Meteor Bombardment."

"Lamia, activate Meteor Bombardment!" the Silent Soldiers shouted.

The disgusting eye-tentacles of each Lamia turned to 'gaze' at the same point, projecting beams of purplish-red energy into the sky. As they converged, slowly reality started to distort, and a portal began to form.

Scarlet looked up.

"I don't like the looks of that," she said nervously, pointing with one hand and grabbing her fiancé's with the other.

John looked up, and smiled confidently.

"Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, Blackfriar's got it covered."

Large rocks started falling out of the sky, not fast or heavy enough to cause planetary cataclysm, but certainly enough to wipe the little Seeker encampment off the face of the Earth.

"Blackfriar, activate Wisdom's Aegis!"

A dome of silver energy formed over the Seekers and their Titans, and the boulders fractured and crumbled harmlessly against it, the rubble sliding to the ground around them.

This, however, had the unfortunate side effect of stopping the ranged barrage on the advancing Spirals, and they covered a good deal of ground before the Lamiae's portals expired and shut, ceasing the barrage.

"Blackfriar, activate Athena's Light!" John commanded quickly.

His Titan lifted his tome above his head, gazing skywards, and the words glowed once more.

A small shimmering pulse of golden light emerged from the book, moved into place over the head of one of the Lamiae, and projected a beam of golden light, banishing one of the Lamiae with ease. The heat and light of the beam dazed and distracted the other Lamiae and their Seekers, allowing Blackfriar to strike again.

Blackfriar fired again and again, systematically banishing the Lamiae one by one, until the Spiral artillery battery was no more, while the Orions resumed laying down a blanket of suppressive fire on the Spirals and their Titans.

Shauna gnashed her teeth.

"Aaargh! Those accursed Foundation weaklings!"

"Get up!" she screeched at the Silent Soldiers, violently yanking the nearest one of them upright.

"We're flying in there."

* * *

"Get ready!" John shouted, as he grabbed a branch. The nearest Spiral was less than a hundred metres away.

The fifty or so Seekers had summoned a small army of about eighty or ninety Titans. While the anxious and disoriented Spirals still outnumbered them massively, the Foundation force had a bit of a fighting chance. They almost certainly wouldn't be able to win, but holding them off long enough for Lok and Sophie to take out the Second Betrayer would be manageable.

"Formblade!"

He now wielded a flat, pointed stick with sharpened edges.

"Lightgauntlet! (A/N New power)"

John's forearms were coated in thick blue light.

Closer and closer the Spirals crept, as Blackfriar and the Orions (A/N Sounds like a really screwed up band name) banished one hostile Titan after another.

Finally, they were close enough.

"Seekers, Titans," Metz shouted, "CHARGE!"

Foundation Freelancers, Casterwill Feyones, and Grier's men's Redcaps charged out of the forest, surprising and dispatching the first waves of Spiral Harklekins and Marauders, as Casterwill Icaruses provided close-ranged aerial support, Grier's men's Mindrones adding to their firepower, the Orions taking whatever shots they could, and the Seekers raining Boltflares, Augerfrosts and Raypulses on the Silent Soldiers, blasting them to the ground.

Fenris bounded over the heads of the frontline troops, mauling several Marauders into oblivion, and panicking and scattering their Seekers, as his Seeker Montehue plunged straight into the battle, shredding Harlekins with his iconic axes and inspiring a similar terror in the Silent Soldiers.

He guffawed and leaned on one of his axes (planted firmly, axe-head downwards, into the ground, of course), as the other Seekers ran out of the forest, and the initially one-sided Foundation-Casterwill-Grier charge became a more conventional battle, albeit with somewhat unconventional participants.

Scarlet walked up next to him, as Firbolg pummelled Harlekins and Gybolg mutilated Marauders.

"Look at them scatter! And to think we were even _worried_!"

The engaged couple chuckled, and kissed.

However, the Spirals were not done yet. Stronger hostile Titans started showing up, with Dark Pharaohs launching orbs of energy at Freelancer shields, Psikofens disarming Feyones, and even Nighlurkers ambushing Redcaps. Of course, this advanced wave did not have as many Titans as the last one, but they still posed a more significant threat.

Montehue and Scarlet turned their attention back to the battlefield, readying their spells and weapons and commanding their Titans, as did the rest of the Seekers.

Xuanwu lumbered out of the forest, and the giant turtle began breathing a blue, cooling mist which alleviated pain and healed injury.

Upon seeing a Hexacros disarm and pin Freelancer, the snake launched a beam of green energy from its mouth at the Foundation Titan. The Freelancer glowed, and, with renewed vigour, pushed the Hexacros off, pinned it instead, and punched it in the face repeatedly, banishing it.

And just when a disarmed Feyone thought she was done for at the hands of a Psikofen, the snake blasted it with a purple beam. The Psikofen's arms fell to its side, and it staggered clumsily about, significantly weakened. The Feyone easily recovered and turned the tables on her opponent, recovering her blade and defeating it.

It was at this point that the Spirals turned their attention to this turtle Titan, who was boosting the Titans of the Foundation Seekers and their allies, while weakening their own, turning the tide, as John promised.

"Good boy!" John laughed, as a handful of Psikofens closed in on Xuanwu, who sat there, dispensing aid to its allies and weakening its foes, apparently failing to acknowledge the impending threat.

And then, at the right moment, the tortoise exhaled a bluish-white mist. And before they knew it, the entire contingent of Psikofens was coated in thick ice, immobilised.

"Blackfriar, activate Grand Cannon."

Xuanwu took a few steps back, as Blackfriar banished the hapless Titans with a single blast.

John smiled, and thrust his sharpened stick in the air triumphantly…

"Ha!"

…and was subsequently nearly decapitated by a Shadow Kulit.

He sucked in his breath and silently cursed his luck. Two of the Harlekins, which had somehow survived the initial onslaught, were closing in on him, too.

John used the shadow of his wooden blade (which was as good as the shadow of an actual blade) to counter the Shadow Kulit's shadow attacks, while he caught the Shadow Kulit's physical attacks on his gauntlets, which forcefully deflected them, as the Harlekins closed in.

_I can probably hold my own against this one, but the two Harlekins…a single slip-up and I'll become confetti._

John muttered a prayer under his breath while trading blows with his foes, a prayer that was interrupted by a swearword in response to a Harlekin swipe, and followed by another as the other Harlekin transformed into Seashadow, easily dispatched the Shadow Kulit with a thrust to the back, and similar disposed of the other Harlekin in short order.

John uttered a brief prayer of thanks, and then turned his attention back to the battlefield.

"Wish the Second Betrayer would hurry up!" he shouted to Metz and Guggenheim, who were nearby blasting Spirals to the ground, as he himself caught one off-guard with an Augerfrost.

"Would that be him?" Sandra (Lok's mother) asked, pointing at something flying in as Solar barbecued a handful of Harlekins.

"Hawkeye (A/N New power)!"

John's eyes glowed golden, as every infinitesimal detail for kilometres around was magnified. He could count every pimple on the diseased skin of the Second Betrayer's face.

"That's him, alright," he said, as the spell faded and he turned back and ran into the forest.

"Chronocall!" he summoned his Chronicler.

His fingers danced over the controls.

"Mr. Vale!" he exclaimed, as Dante's hologram popped up.

"Is the Second Betrayer here?"

"Yes. Hurry, we need to move _now_. We're faring well on the battlefield here but I don't know how long that's going to last."

"Alright," Dante closed his Holotome.

"Zhalia," he took her hands.

"It's time. Don't worry, I'll give you an energy boost too," he reassured her.

"Alright," Lok said, "let's go, KIPPERIN!"

He scooped Sophie up in his arms.

"The last time we did this, it was just after the Professor blasted you out of a building!" Lok joked.

"Well, that time, at least I could see your handsome face," she kissed him.

"This just feels weird."

The four (plus Cherit) chuckled.

Zhalia breathed deeply.

"I'm ready."

Cherit projected a beam of reddish energy into her, causing her to glow with power.

"Powerflow (A/N New power)!" Dante called, resting his hands on his fiancée and pouring more reddish energy into her.

"Thoughtspectre!"

The young couple vanished from sight.

"Don't bother asking how they are," Zhalia told her fiancé.

"I made sure to mute any sounds they make."

"Good call," he said.

"And now you two just have to stand her for the next few minutes while Lok and Sophie save the world," Cherit said.

"Again," the couple said in unison.

* * *

"Gatecleave!" John threw his crystal to the ground.

A swirling vortex of blue and black materialised.

"Hidesight!"

…and it promptly vanished.

John picked up his pointy stick and returned to the heat of battle, only to be blasted to the ground by a particularly powerful Nullcurse.

He turned his head to see Lucas crash to the ground, a leering Silent Soldier perched atop his chest. She was, however, dispatched in short order by a pommel-strike from Dellix.

Xuanwu's healing mist banished the pain from the spell, and refreshed him slightly, enough for him to get back on his feet.

He cursed as he saw Wind and Shauna dropping from Insect Flyers, taking down a handful of Foundation Seekers, with about a dozen more Silent Soldiers dropping in behind them.

Shauna's eyes burned with rage.

"You!" she snarled at Metz.

"Pathetic Foundation bureaucrat! You shall pay for what your Foundation scum did to the Betrayer!"

She pulled out three amulets.

"Destroy, ASH! Strike, DERVISH! Defy all, LILITH THE QUEEN!"

Ash blasted Metz with ash, blinding him and restricting his movement, allowing Dervish to paralyse him and stop him from moving altogether, and leaving him vulnerable to the assault of Lilith the Queen.

"Not so fast!" Guggenheim stepped in between the Titans and Metz.

"Come, BULREGARD!"

The dog-like Titan materialised.

"Bulregard, SPEAK!"

Sonic waves scattered the cloak of ash, and a golden beam of energy from Xuanwu dispelled the paralysis.

"Hyperstride!" Metz back-flipped out of the way.

"Now, overwhelm them (A/N Made-up phrase), GREMLOW!" Guggenheim called.

A huge swarm of rat-like Titans surged forth, crawling all over Dervish and Lilith, although Ash was able to slip through them and Shauna managed to Fireport out of the way, right in front of Guggenheim.

"Newfury!" she screeched, preparing to attack the Foundation councillor.

"Ironhand!" he sent her reeling with a punch.

At this juncture, Wind had just defeated a Freelancer. Upon realising the situation, he sent a Boltflare over the Gremlows and Guggenheim, casting their shadows directly towards him. He drove his fist into their shadows, and a wave of purple energy surged over the ground through the shadows, seizing the Gremlows and Guggenheim, and sending them into painful, immobilising spasms (A/N this is the power Wind used on Dante in The Phoenix's Ashes, S2E19).

John, who hung back, and thus managed to avoid that fate, readied his sword as Shauna, Ash, and the newly-freed Dervish and Lilith descended upon him.

"Your stupid turtle is getting in the way," she snarled.

"Nullcurse!" she launched a red-black orb of explosive malevolence at John.

"Spellparry (A/N New power)!"

His pointy stick glowed bluish-white, as he swatted away the projectile, and it exploded harmlessly off to one side.

"Augerfrost!" he returned with surprising haste, knocking Shauna to the ground.

But it wasn't enough. As Wind went head to head with Grier and Breaker, his raw power undermining Grier's skill and discipline, Ash blasted John, blinding and disorientating him, and allowing Shauna to recover.

"THAT'S IT!" she screamed.

"Ripplebur-ungh…"

Xuanwu's purple Weaken beam struck her, sending her to her knees. She was already exhausted from summoning three Titans at once, and the fight had taken quite a bit out of her.

A Kindlestrike sent her all the way to the ground, as Lucas, Lane, Dellix, and Wild Wood Druid ran up to assist.

Dervish opened its jaws to blast the Seekers, but Lucas promptly clamped them shut with Sunlock, as Dellix lunged and dispatched it with a powerful downward stroke.

Wild Wood Druid summoned forth the trees in the little patch of forest behind them, slamming them into Lilith the Queen, while Lane blasted her with a Kindlestrike, the combined impact sufficing to banish her.

But it was too late. A Newfury compensated for the effect of Xuanwu's weakening, and Shauna charged at John, lethal intent in her eyes, as the latter was still disorientated from Ash's constant stream of ash.

And then, suddenly, "Rippleburst!"

A blast of explosive force, fired from Kevin's hand, collided with Ash, banishing her and startling her Seeker, breaking her charge.

"Gustblow (A/N New power)!" Den called, summoning a strong wind which sent all the ash back to Shauna.

With a Hyperstride, John bounded over his opponent's head.

"Formbreak!"

The volatile energies of Wind's spell were loosed from his control, exploding outwards and turning on him, leaving him dazed and at the mercy of his former victims.

Den, Viviane, Kevin, Harrison, White, and Mallory got into formation in front of the disorientated Shauna, and, in unison, called, "Boltflare!"

The six simultaneous blasts sent her to the ground, this time, more than just momentarily dazed.

Wind's eyes widened as he realised both the tight spot he had worked himself into and Shauna's critical condition. With a single Fireport, he materialised in front of Shauna, scooped her up in his arms, and with another, escaped.

"Sorry we're late to the party," Den smiled cockily.

"No problem," John smiled, as more Spirals and Titans came towards them.

"There's plenty to go around!"

* * *

"Look! There he is!" Sophie cried, as an Insect Flyer put the Second Betrayer down gently in front of the altar at the now-deserted Stonehenge (all the Spirals having gone forth to attack the Foundation Seekers), and Lok, suspended above the site by Kipperin's flapping wings, cradled her in his arms.

"Shh!" Lok shushed her.

"Don't worry, Lok," she said, "Zhalia said they can't hear us."

"I know," Lok said.

"It's just…he tried to kill you once before, Sophie. I don't want to risk it, not now, not just after we get together."

She smiled at him. She couldn't see his eyes, but sincerity and tenderness shone forth in abundance in his voice.

"I love you, Lok," she said, and meant it.

That expression may have seemed trite and cheesy to the casual listener, but both knew only that simple, timeless declaration could perfectly express the surge of emotions that Sophie now felt.

The Second Betrayer flexed his fingers and started doing stretches.

Lok and Sophie looked at each other.

After a few minutes of watching him prepare physically to unleash destruction upon the world, Lok saw Wind and Shauna running up to the Stonehenge, as the Second Betrayer rolled up his sleeves, laid his hands on the altar, and commenced the ritual which would spell the end of the world.

"Master!" cried the exhausted, battered woman, falling to her knees and prostrating herself, as her partner did likewise.

"Can't you seem I'm busy?" he said irritably, beginning to channel some of his energy into the ancient site.

"The enemy is far too powerful, master! We have been defeated twice by them!"

His eyes widened, as he turned to them, incensed.

"Get back there!" he screamed.

"And don't come back, until they're gone, or dead! I don't want ANY interruptions!"

"But master, we're too weak…"

"DOUBLESPELL!" he screeched.

"SHADOWGRIP!"

Tendrils of shadow wrapped around their necks, yanking them into the air.

"GO…BACK...NOW!"

He flung his two most powerful servants in the direction of the battle, and then flexed his fingers again, and placed his hands on the altar once more, recommencing the ritual.

The fabric of reality began to warp.

"Now!" cried Sophie.

Lok put her down gently.

"Be careful," he whispered from behind her, and then kissed her on the top of her head.

"I love you."

She nodded, and breathed deeply.

She laid both hands on the altar, and poured her willpower into it (while remaining completely invisible, of course).

_Finally, they shall all pay! And then the whole world will be consumed in the beauty of an infinite storm of chaos!_

_ Wait…wait…what's this? Why does the spell feel so…clunky? And…bumpy?_

_ What's up with the altar? Is it our spell? No…did they damage it?_

_ Wait…I thought I…how did it…what's going on?_

_ It's…it's fighting back!_

_ But why?_

_ I'm a Casterwill! It's made for me!_

_ Maybe there's another spell somewhere…_

"Powerscan!"

Lok and Sophie's eyes widened.

_ Oh no!_

"Quick! Sophie! Forget it, he'll kill you!" he tried to scoop her up.

She pushed him away.

"No, Lok! Remember the plan! I'll handle this!"

"But…"

"I can deal with a misbehaving member of my family, Lok," she said firmly.

"I don't want to lose you…" he said, timidly and fearfully.

"You won't, Lok. Trust me."

"OK. But if he invokes any Titans…"

"You'll fly me to safety. Got it."

The Second Betrayer redoubled his efforts, attempting to identify the unknown force just before him.

_An illusion power!_

_ Now what could they be hiding?_

"Breakspell!"

A vicious smile grew on his lips as Sophie appeared.

"So, you're the one fooling around with my spell!"

He cackled cruelly.

"Very cunning…what was it again? Sophie?"

"Sophie Casterwill," she said, jaw firmly set.

"And I won't let you destroy the world, and neither will I let you dishonour your family! _Our_ family!"

His playful manner vanished.

"Family? _Family_?"

He clawed wildly at Sophie, who jumped back, dodging the attack.

Lok resisted, with great difficulty, the temptation to run this psychopath through with the Willblade.

"There's no such thing as _family_!" he screamed.

"Who raised you from a child? Who sacrificed himself to provide for you? Who sacrificed herself to take care of you? Who played with you as a child? Who was always there for you? Who loved you no matter what?"

His facial muscles began to twitch.

"You were born from the love of a man and a woman, a powerful, eternal love that can work wonders. That can call upon God Himself to create a human soul, a human _life_. They did something so special, just to create you. These are your parents. Your father and mother. They are your family."

He began gnashing his teeth, as Lok started tearing up.

"Who do you love, with all your heart? Who do you want to be together with, for the rest of your life? Who do you want to raise your children? Who do you want to love with the kind of love that creates life? That creates families?"

Lok sobbed gently. He knew how Sophie would answer her own questions. Her eyes burned with conviction. And he knew how he would answer them.

"It's you, Sophie! I love _you_!" he screamed, inaudible to the world.

"I love you, Lok," he read her lips, as tears of passion poured forth from his eyes.

"_NO-ONE_!" the Second Betrayer screamed, slamming his hands into the altar.

The fabric of reality sundered altogether, and a swirling vortex opened.

"If their love was so 'powerful' and 'eternal', then why did that bitch who fucked my father leave him to fill her pussy with a bigger cock!?

Sophie would normally have recoiled when faced with such crudity, but that was a minor concern at this juncture, with the world hanging in the balance.

"There is no such thing as family. There is no such thing as _love_! Where's that pretty boy you were trying to kiss now? Gone somewhere trying to stick his dick in another pussy?"

Lok and Sophie's eyes burned with rage.

"I'm right here," Lok hissed, tears still running down his face.

"And this close to chopping your ugly head off."

"How _dare _you insinuate such a thing about my character, not to mention that of Lok!"

"Lok, is it?"

It took all her willpower to hold back as he cackled cruelly.

"There is no God. Why would someone like that allow this to happen? There is no order. There is no meaning. Only chaos. And chaos is beautiful."

"Chaos is nothing but destruction."

"And destruction is art."

The portal was growing ever larger.

"Only to a monster like you!"

She slammed her hands onto the altar, and golden energy spread through it. Through sheer willpower, she totally redirected his spell in that instant, to a random, unknown plane.

"Lok, now!"

The Second Betrayer whirled around, only to see a swirling portal of blue and black appear out of nowhere, and John lunging through.

"NO!" he screamed, as John sent him into the portal with a flying kick.

Lok became visible once more as, about a kilometre away, Zhalia, Dante and Cherit hopped on Sophie's Titan, and they sped back to the portal.

John got up.

"I've always wanted to flying-kick a deranged psychopathic traitorous evil sorcerer into a dimensional portal to God-knows-where."

"Well, it would seem that the dimensional portal isn't quite working right," Sophie pointed.

Indeed, the Second Betrayer looked to be more caught on a spider web than travelling through a portal. He was simply suspended there, paralysed.

"Viviane, Lucas, Lane and Dellix, help Sophie!"

The four Seekers planted their hands on the altar, working in unison with Sophie and each other to push the Second Betrayer through.

"Great. Guess who decided to show up again," Den pointed at Wind and Shauna, who were running back with a large fraction of the Spiral contingent.

John was about to start firing spells, but he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

"Gateclose!" he sealed the portal, shortly after Dante, Zhalia and Cherit hopped through.

"Chronocall!" he summoned his Chronicler, as he turned back to the vortex, slowly sucking the Second Betrayer in.

"Something's not right!" John shouted at the Casterwills.

"Yes," said Lucas, eyes shut in intense concentration.

"Something…"

John's fingers danced over the controls. Number-crunching was not his forte, but something told him that the energy here was a little too volatile for comfort.

_But how volatile?_

The approaching Spirals got within firing range, and proceeded to blast the site with Nullcurses, most of which were ironically absorbed by their own dark magic protecting the site.

"Come on…come on…"

John gasped, as Lucas' eyes widened, both having come to the same realisation at the same time.

"IT'S GOING TO—"

As the Second Betrayer vanished entirely, there was a brilliant flash of light.

Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia, Den, Harrison, John, Kevin, Viviane, Lucas, Lane, Dellix and Cherit were gone.

_To be continued…_

**A/N Dum dum dum! Another cliffhanger!**

** Sorry about the delay. Various reasons, this and that. You know. The sort.**

** Don't worry, this isn't nearly the end. I intend to do a full 26-chapter season.**

**And go ahead, type a review in that lovely box beneath this note. Come on, you know you want to!**

** Just kidding. But seriously, it would mean a lot to me and my editor. **


	5. Chapter 5: The Insane Nullifier

Chapter 5: The Insane Nullifier

**A/N There may or may not be another bit of metaphysics in this chapter. While the author has tried his best to ensure congruence with actual Aristotelico-Thomism, this is not guaranteed.**

_Location unknown_

Kevin and Lucas leaned back in their comfy armchairs in a café, sipping cappuccinos.

"You know," Kevin said to his companion, eying his cappuccino, "I'm technically not supposed to drink this. I've got serotonin deficiency and—"

Someone bumped into him, spilling the warm brown liquid all over his pants.

"OW!" he cried. The cappuccino wasn't scalding, but it still stung.

"Watch it!" he snapped at the clumsy café patron.

The patron bared his teeth, glaring at Kevin.

He saw the patron winding back for a punch.

Kevin drove his fist into his chest, sending him flying back and a collective gasp to arise from the other patrons.

The man slowly got to his feet, murder in his eyes.

Something glowed on his chest.

Slowly, the fabric over it burned away, revealing the Blood Spiral tattoo.

Reddish-black energies began gathering in his hands.

Lucas stood up, ready to fight.

"Uh, Lucas?"

"What?"

"Look," Kevin pointed at the other patrons.

The fabric of their clothes started burning away too, revealing that each one of them bore the tattoo.

They got to their feet, gathering dark energies in their hands too.

Kevin got up, and moved into a battle stance, as did Lucas.

"We've got to get out of here," Lucas hissed.

"I don't think those guys will be all that happy to oblige," Kevin hissed back.

And then the Nullcurses started flying.

The two Seekers threw themselves to the ground as the café exploded around them.

"Doublespell! Boltflare!" both shouted simultaneously, disposing of four of their opponents.

It was but a drop in the ocean.

The Spirals had done more to damage each other than their targets, so opted instead to close in and attempt to take out the two in close-quarters combat.

"Goldcloak! Lightwield!" Kevin armed and armoured himself.

The Spirals distanced themselves from the boy, who now wielded twin lethally-sharp katanas.

Lucas punched at the nearest Spiral, calling, "Solarstrike (A/N New power)!"

His fist glowed golden, and the Spiral was sent flying.

Kevin bathed the nearest handful in his signature yellow energy of insanity, sending them to the ground screaming in pain, and launched Touchrams into the crowd, taking down swathes of the further-away Spirals.

Lucas expediently dispatched his opponents with a series of Kindlestrikes and Solarstrikes.

Just when they thought the tide was turning, a thunderous explosion rocked the café, the glass front door shattered, and Sophie flew into the room, as hordes of fully-kitted-out Silent Soldiers swarmed in.

"SOPHIE!" Lucas screamed.

"Overslam!" he cleared the area around his sister.

He bent down, frantically checking her pulse, feeling for breath…

Nothing.

"Lucas!" Kevin shouted, as he dodged a punch.

"A little help!?" he pummelled his attacker.

Lucas ignored him, as a single tear rolled down his cheek onto his sister's lifeless body, and the Spirals closed in.

"NO!"

A wave of golden energy surged outwards, sending Spirals flying and knocking them out on impact.

He fell prostrate over his sister's corpse, tears streaming down his face and onto her body.

"Lucas!" Kevin cried with greater urgency, as the Spirals redoubled their efforts.

"No…" he whimpered, powerless, sobbing weakly.

Suddenly, he heard a faint hum. It was too close to be from the Spirals.

_So…_

He got up, and examined his sister.

There was something glowing on the other side of her neck.

Lucas slowly turned her head around.

And gasped.

Tattooed into her neck was the Spiral Mark.

Her eyes snapped open, glowing dark red, as she got to her feet, and Lucas scrambled away, stumbling to his feet.

"You're useless, Lucas."

Her lips moved, but the words were not hers.

Kevin dispatched his current opponent, and turned to face Lucas.

"I think I heard the Second Betrayer's voice!"

He blocked the fist of a Spiral aimed at his head with his pauldron, and was once more sucked back into the fight.

"You're useless," the mock-Sophie repeated.

"You did nothing while our mansion burned and Father and Mother were killed."

"You're a failure. You ran from the Blood Spirals. You were too scared to face them. You couldn't even protect your own sister."

"No…" he moaned, slowly sinking to his knees, head bowed.

"No…"

"You're nothing but a useless failure, Lucas!"

Lucas perked up. The mock-Sophie's voice had sounded remarkably like the real Sophie when she? he? it? said that last line.

He raised his head to take a look…

…and he immediately regretted doing so. His sister's flesh was melting off her bones (A/N I won't go into details, in case you just had lunch).

He gagged, a mixture of cappuccino and digestive juices scorching the bottom of his oesophagus, and stumbled back, struggling to his feet, as the viscous fluid pooling at Sophie's skeleton's feet began to change colour and consistency.

It slowly rose, starting to take on a humanoid form, as the now-bare skeleton of his sister crumpled to the ground.

Lucas unconsciously backed away from the figure which was beginning to acquire more and more humanoid features, and some regions acquiring distinct colouration.

And finally, the transformation was complete. Before him stood the Second Betrayer.

"You're useless, Lucas," the figure said, this time with Sophie's voice, but with a cruelty and arrogance unknown to his sister.

"You're worthless. A failure."

The words, though tumbling out of the mouth of a visual abomination, stung deeply. They sounded of his sister, his dear sister who he so ardently struggled to protect, who he was crushed to have lost, and who he could not bear to risk losing again.

He fell to his knees once more, tears streaming down his face, head bowed even lower in shame, eyes squeezed shut.

"You couldn't protect me. You can't protect anyone!"

"You're _nothing_."

His eyes snapped open, as he lifted his head to look into "Sophie's" eyes.

_This isn't my sister._

_This isn't the little girl who would insist on me cuddling her to sleep every night._

_This isn't the girl who would prance around, laughing happily, showing off her new dress._

_ This isn't the girl who leads the foremost force in opposition to the very incarnation of chaos._

_ The girl who helped destroy the Betrayer himself._

"You…are…not…my…sister!" Lucas roared.

And then, without thinking, he unleashed a spell he had been trying to master, albeit with little progress.

"SUNBURST!"

The golden explosion disintegrated the figure, sent a large fraction of the Spiral force flying out of a newly-made hole in the wall of the café, and slammed the rest into what was left of said wall, knocking them unconscious.

"SUNBURST!" he screamed again, blasting another group of Spirals into oblivion.

Again and again he launched the spell, its raw power harnessing him more than he harnessed it, as his foes were sent flying, and large sections of the café were obliterated.

Only when the last Spiral crumpled to the ground, unconscious, did Lucas finally relax.

The skies outside, which Lucas distinctly remembered being blue and sunny mere minutes ago, were now reddish and overcast, as a desolate wind began whistling.

Scraps of paper and dead leaves fluttered past the shattered windows of the destroyed café. The streets beyond were empty, the buildings dark.

Lucas slowly turned around, observing the scene of destruction he had caused.

"Kevin?" he asked timidly.

There was no response.

He walked, taking tentative, frightened steps, to the place where he last remembered seeing the boy.

He bent down, next to a pile of unconscious Spirals.

Slowly and timidly, he turned one over…

…and nearly screamed. The Spiral was merely a skeleton.

He breathed deeply, taking a few seconds to compose himself.

Slowly, he began pushing the Spiral skeletons away, dreading what he might find at the bottom of the pile.

"What…have…I…done?" he whispered, tremblingly and hesitantly.

He recoiled as he pricked his finger on something sharp.

He examined his hand as a single rivulet of blood ran down his finger.

He was unsure whether to respond with joy, shock, terror, rage, despair, or grim determination.

But he nonetheless resumed his morbid task, pushing corpse after corpse away, slowly revealing the golden armour beneath the pile…

…and the skeletal figure within.

"No…" he whispered once more.

"You're useless, Lucas," a familiar female voice came.

He whirled around, only to see a blue-haired girl calmly walking into the café.

"Lane! I—"

"You're worthless. A failure."

Her voice was harsher. Fiercer. Somewhat raspier.

"Lane, no! Please…"

"You can't protect anyone."

"No, please…" he began tearing up again.

"You can't do anything," she snarled, her voice more that of a demon than her own.

"You're _nothing_!" she screeched, somehow transforming into a Nullifier.

Lucas' eyes widened, but he stood, helpless and paralysed. The triple emotional bombardment had been far too much for him.

Just before the Nullifier erased him, three claws of reddish energy burst forth from its head.

And with a rip, and a snap, the Nullifier was no more.

The world dissolved around Lucas, and he found himself drifting in a void whose background was populated by psychedelic colours and images instead, a hooded figure in front of him, red claws still projected from his hand.

He readied his fists, preparing to fight.

The hooded figure drew back his hood.

It was Kevin.

"Let's go find the others."

* * *

"_Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum_…" Dante murmured feverishly.

His legs and feet were numb from kneeling for…how long had he been kneeling?

These minor distracting thoughts danced about at the forefront of his thoughts, as the rest of his mind was devoted to fervently begging _Him_ to hear his petition, and…and just _fix_ this, somehow.

"_…ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae_._ Amen_."

He tenderly fingered the next rosary bead.

_How many times did I say the whole rosary?_

He shelved the question, as another memory came to him.

These very beads, an ancestral heirloom, had been passed to him by his father, when he was merely eight. He had just received his first Holy Communion, at the majestic Basilica of St. Mark, no less.

It was his father that had introduced him to the world of Seekers, who had alerted Metz, a family friend, to his raw talent, just a year prior to that memory. And he was subsequently groomed into one of the most skilled Seekers of the 21st century.

And there was no shortage of memories praying these beads, with his father and mother at his side, and sometimes, with Metz.

And so it was ironic that he now prayed over the enervated form of the man who was effectively his second father, with those very beads with which he had prayed beside him.

Many nights he had spent by Metz's side, most of them, praying fervently in this fashion. He had even bothered to learn the entire prayer in Latin, hoping his piety would impress the Almighty, but apparently to no avail.

"…_benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventri tui, Jesus_…"

_Lord_, he prayed internally, _listen to the pleas of Thy Heavenly Mother, and Thy servant on earth. Please, Lord, I beseech thee: cure Metz, my dearest friend, who has nurtured me as much as my father has, of this dark curse. For You, nothing is impossible, except to be without mercy or justice. A single drop from Thy infinite ocean of power can wash away all illness. And Thy humble servant begs Thee to oblige, and shower Thy mercy and power upon Metz, Thy faithful servant._

Metz stirred and coughed. Dante raised his head.

"Metz!"

His coughing grew more violent.

"Dante…" he hoarsed.

"Metz!" he cried again, getting to his feet and pulling back the curtain (while silently thanking the Almighty for deigning to fulfil his prayer directly, even if not fully).

"Dante…you must listen to me. There isn't much time. There…there is a spy in your team."

Dante blinked.

And suddenly he began 'remembering' things.

"A woman…"

_He flipped open the book._

I love you.

_ A smile slowly came to his lips as she averted his gaze, but he could see the shadow of a smile on her lips too, as her tears began to dry._

_ And they kissed._

_No, please, please don't…_

"Her name is…"

_ "Will you marry me?"_

_ No…No…not her. Not when I've sworn to protect her all my life._

"…Zhalia Moon."

"No!" the gasp escaped his lips, but apparently went unnoticed by Metz.

"You…must…eliminate her," Metz gasped.

_NO!_

Dante took a moment to compose himself.

_Why?_

He thought it mightily capricious (and cruel) of the Lord to grant his prayers, only to have _this_ come about.

He knew Zhalia loved him, truly. She had been the one to make the bold leap of faith and propose to him. And he knew she didn't feel that way about many people. For him, Zhalia's only love, to be tasked with killing her…

And he loved Zhalia too. In fact, Zhalia was the only person he had ever been able to connect with, to feel for…to care about, in this way. How could he do this to the only person with whom he could share the miracle of love?

And most importantly, he knew that Zhalia would turn, soon. In time, she would become one of the most valuable assets of the Foundation, and would be instrumental in undermining the recruitment of Den, and later infiltrating the Blood Spiral, all of which were critical to the defeat of the Blood Spirals.

_And, after all, this is a very unjust course of action. Her infiltration hardly deserves death._

Not only would he have the innocent blood of his fiancée on his hands, but he would most likely have doomed the earth.

"Metz," he began, "I…I trust your judgement, but is such heavy-handed action necessary? She is most likely a very elite agent in the Organisation, and if we could turn her, she could prove very useful."

"No," the man breathed heavily.

His voice seemed to have grown deeper, raspier, and more guttural.

"She must…be killed. We…can't…risk it."

Un-euphemised, the order was even more painful.

_Why is he so stubborn, and harsh?_

"If we can't turn her, we could always feed her false information."

"No!" Metz said, insistent, the aberration in his voice even more pronounced.

Dante thought he saw a vein throbbing

_ Something's not right…_

"Metz, please! I don't…I can't…"

"KILL HER!" he screamed, transforming into a Nullifier.

_I knew it!_

The Nullifier-Metz began disintegrating his? its? furniture and room, as Dante back-flipped to dodge the unadulterated chaos pouring forth from what could formerly have been unambiguously termed Metz's hands.

"Boltflare!" he called, only to have the projectile disintegrated by the pure chaos, which was destroying the very fabric of reality.

The chaos spread erratically, but generally didn't go too far, losing its 'momentum' from when it was issued from the Nullifier-Metz before long.

The Nullifier-Metz stopped temporarily, and teleported in front of Dante.

His eyes widened as the Nullifier-Metz reached out towards him.

"Kindlestrike!" he blasted it away.

The monster howled in pain, simultaneously exhaling chaos.

"Kindlestrike!" he blasted it again.

"Hyperstride!" he lunged into the air.

"Touchram!" another blast pushed it down towards the ground.

"Dragonfist!"

His weight and the power of his spell sent him plunging straight through the head of the Nullifier, and it disintegrated, the world crumbling away entirely at the same time, leaving him drifting in an array of psychedelic imagery and colour.

* * *

A majestic church organ to Lok's right blared out the notes of a classical composition, Bach's _Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring_, as he walked down the aisle, dressed in an uncharacteristically formal tuxedo, fingers wrapped around those of his one true love, Sophie, herself clad in an elegant, graceful, flowing white dress.

His skin tingled with the surrealism of it all. Here he was, within the beautiful and majestic St. Mark's Basilica, focal point of the entire city of Venice (itself beautiful in its own right), walking down the aisle, with the girl he so passionately desired to spend the rest of his life with.

He unconsciously tightened his grip on Sophie's hand, unwittingly magnifying his sensation of her cool, soft, delicate skin, afraid that all this was just a dream.

Lok's family was, on paper, part of the Church of Ireland, but after the incident with the Professor, he had started going to church with Sophie. This particular church. He remembered the feeling of sheer awe upon stepping in, an apprehension of the majesty of…of something, a presence, not quite the church itself, but something which the church, in all its splendour, beauty and majesty, was only a pale, hazy reflection of, as he involuntarily raised his head to observe the beautiful mosaics that covered the ceiling of the basilica. It was here that he felt a sensation that would only be replicated in Tir na nÓg, the magical floating castle, a sensation of the thinness of the barrier between our world, and that which lay beyond.

In time, he came to acknowledge this presence as the God that the priest constantly expounded on (and Sophie herself, occasionally). And so it was all the more amazing that he would be bound, of his own volition, to Sophie, of her own volition, by God Himself, for an eternity, in a place where His presence is so tangible.

In light of these reflections, he further tightened his grip on her hand, the pain that would be caused by the loss of all of this having grown greatly.

And that was when it happened.

The people, the scene, the church, even Sophie herself started…flickering. Now and then, this or that person would blink out of existence for a split second, and then reappear. Or perhaps this or that pillar, wall, statue, patch of floor, and so forth. Even the feel of Sophie's skin was suddenly disrupted occasionally.

And he began to hear something beneath the sound of the pipe organ, incoherent whispers and faint sobs, which gradually grew louder.

"Lok…" he made out from the whispering.

He thought the voice sounded somewhat familiar. And deeply accented.

"Lok, baby."

And…_sexy_.

The whole church vanished for a brief moment, showing a different scene altogether. It was enough for Lok to realise that he was in a bedroom, with soft lighting.

And when the church returned, he noticed faint cracks snaking through the floor, walls and pillars. Some people were gone altogether, but he noticed a few of those still remaining looked somewhat like the Second Betrayer.

_Something's not right._

The church flickered out of existence again, and he had more time to observe the details of the bed, surrounded by a lace curtain, with a dark shape behind them.

And he recognised the sobbing.

"Sophie!" he gasped.

"Come on, Lok. You know you want it."

_Scarlet_.

He returned to the church, now severely disturbed. The fractures had widened significantly, and the population of the church was halved, with appearances of those remaining ever more unpleasantly reminiscent of the Second Betrayer.

But his mind devoted relatively little of its processing capacity to these details.

_No, this…I'm over with Scarlet! That was eight years ago! I love Sophie. I didn't love Scarlet._

He returned to the room, and he glanced about frantically.

In illumination more evocative of the twilight which makes you suspect every shadow than romantic candlelight, he almost missed the blotch of white curled up in a corner of the room.

He trained his eyes on it.

It was Sophie.

Before any further details could be uncovered, he returned to the church, where practical chasms had opened on nearly every surface.

And, of course, Sophie was gone.

Lok gasped, but then narrowed his eyes and set his jaw firmly.

_Something's very, very wrong._

"Bladecall!"

Time seemed to stand still as the church disintegrated around him, leaving him in a purplish-black void, standing on an invisible plane.

_I've been here before!_

He recalled his adventure in Tir na nÓg, where he had met with his father and bonded with Pendragon.

_Pendragon…_

He was about to open the compartment which held the mighty Titan's amulet, when something caught his eye.

_ My reflection…that's not me!_

Indeed, in the image reflected on his blade, his face was not his own. It was older, wiser, stronger. And it wore a crown.

_Is that…_

He heard the hum of energy next to him, and turned in time to see a white gargoyle-like Titan materialise.

"Cherit!"

"Lok, m'boy, you've got to focus," Cherit said, as Lok lifted the blade once more.

The reflection was still there.

"Is that…King Arthur?"

"Aye, the most famous wielder of the Willblade. He was a true hero, Lok, and a noble and upright man."

"But…I'm not a hero! I'm not a knight…or a king…"

"Yes you are, m'boy! You're a real hero! Your father said it himself!"

_"Dad…you gotta help me…I don't know what to do! I couldn't protect my friends!"_

_ And by 'friends', of course, he meant Sophie._

_"Listen to me. You'll find your strength. You are a Seeker, and a hero. A real one."_

_ "But I never wanted to be any of that! I wanted to be an adventurer! Like you!"_

_ "I know, Lok. I wish it could be that way, but this is a dangerous time. The whole world is counting on you."_

"The world needs you to be a hero, Lok. Sophie needs you. She needs you to be her hero."

"Remember who you are, Lok," Cherit urged his charge. "You are a hero, and a Knight of the Willblade. Sophie's knight."

Lok stared into the eyes of his reflection. They were his own, but at the same time they were not.

"If you really loved her, then you would know what you have to do. You would know what's right. You would know what a knight would do for his princess. You would know what a champion would do for his patroness."

Lok looked up, fiery determination in his eyes.

"I know."

The bedroom re-materialised.

"Why would you want to be stuck with that boring Casterwill girl," came Scarlet's voice from the curtained bed.

_Oh no._

Somehow, Lok knew she was lying naked there. And she was starting to get up.

"…when you can have all of this?" she asked seductively.

Lok dashed towards the sobbing, white, crumpled mess in a corner of the room, never looking behind, where he knew Scarlet stood, attempting to seduce him.

"Why bind yourself to her, when you can be free, and still have me for whatever you want?"

He gently lifted Sophie's chin. She was still in her wedding dress from the church, except it was in tatters.

Her gorgeous, emerald eyes were wide open, and shone with tears.

"It's alright, Sophie. I'm here for you."

One of those unshed tears began rolling down her pretty face.

And Lok found his own eyes dampening.

"Lok, turn around," Scarlet said, her voice still shimmering with seductive allure, though he could sense some darker, more threatening undertones to it.

"I love you," he whispered tenderly, to the girl he loved with all his heart, that he would die for, that he knew he would, he _must_, marry, and be together with forever, someday. Preferably someday soon.

"NO!" Scarlet screamed behind him, her voice becoming much deeper, more guttural, and nearly demonic.

Lok whirled about to see chaos surging forth from a Nullifier's 'hands', destroying everything it contacted.

His eyes widened in shock as he realised that the chaos would begin disintegrating himself, and subsequently Sophie, in mere seconds.

"Hyperstride!" he launched himself over the monstrosity's head, Willblade in hand.

"Awaken, Legendary Titan of Champions, PENDRAGON!"

A hail of energy swords from Pendragon's mouth rained down on the Nullifier, as Lok plunged down, driving the Willblade into the Nullifier's head as well.

And with a terrible screech, the Nullifier, and everything else, dissolved, leaving Lok with Cherit, Pendragon and the Willblade in a psychedelic rainbow void.

* * *

"_Ite, missa est_," the elderly priest intoned lyrically.

"_Deo gratias_," the choir responded, with the enthusiastic young Sophie and her brother, Lucas, joining in.

The congregation filed out of the church, with little Sophie still singing the chorus of the recessional hymn, as she, Lucas, her parents, and Santiago got into a car, with LeBlanche hopping into the front seat.

"You sang beautifully today, my dear," Sophie's mother stroked her hair.

"Yes, maybe someday the two of us can form a band!" Lucas joked, prompting laughter from all six occupants of the car.

LeBlanche stopped the car next to a mansion which somehow looked familiar to Sophie.

She got out of the car, and walked up to the door, intrigued.

The door was ajar. Sophie curiously pulled it open all the way, to find a long corridor receding into darkness.

She timidly entered the building, walking slowly and softly down the corridor.

Lining its walls were images, some of them moving, and some static. All they had in common was a little girl: herself. Sophie realised these were memories. The first few were faint snatches of her infancy which she could still remember. As she proceeded down the corridor, the images showed increasingly older versions of herself, playing with Lucas, spending time with her parents, and so forth.

As Sophie in the images grew older, Sophie felt herself aging, and almost twice as fast as herself in the pictures.

And as she walked down the corridor, she could not shake an uncanny sense of impending calamity.

Suddenly, she realised what was wrong.

_These are…these are all from before the fire!_

Sophie, now as old as she was at Stonehenge, heard a crackling sound.

The sound of a fire.

From out of the darkness at the end of the corridor surged tongues of flame, devouring the images, igniting the walls, and surrounding her completely.

"No!" she gasped, her old phobia of fire resurging.

"No…" she whimpered weakly, falling to her knees.

She fumbled to produce an amulet.

"R-Rise! PHOENIX!" she called tremblingly, more a prayer than a command.

The massive flaming bird materialised, but with a cruel, mocking twist: her head was that of Kiel, the monster who murdered her parents, who burned her family mansion down, who separated her from her brother, who cut her off from her ancestry.

"No!" she screamed again.

His? her? face was an image from a nightmare, a bad memory: that of Sophie's home being burned down, and that face, that _monster_, standing at the door, leering, revelling in the destruction that he caused. The murder. The chaos.

"I never forget the face of my prey," he snarled, as his face transformed into his present-day one.

"No...please…"

"Stooping to begging, Casterwill?" he mocked her.

"Don't…"

"DON'T YOU _DARE _TOUCH HER!" someone screamed.

Sophie looked up.

"Ah! Lok!" she cried happily.

Lok lunged through the flames, launching an energy projectile from the Willblade at the Phoenix-Kiel.

He? she? turned to Lok, and started distorting into a Nullifier.

Lok ran up to the soon-to-be Nullifier, steely determination in his eyes.

"Pendragon! Now!"

A massive claw demolished a large section of the ceiling, permitting Pendragon to stick his snout in and rain energy swords on the Nullifier.

"Hyperstride!" Lok launched himself into the air, and plunged the Willblade into the Nullifier's head, disintegrating everything around them, except himself, Pendragon, the Willblade, and Sophie.

"Oh, Lok!" she ran into his arms and squeezed him tightly, as he patted her back comfortingly.

"It's alright, Sophie, I'm here for you…"

He hesitated slightly.

"…baby."

She pulled back and gazed into his deep oceanic eyes, her own leaf-green orbs wide open, and moist with unshed tears of passion.

"I've…I've always wanted someone to call me that," she said, trembling with love and joy.

"I'll always be here for you, Sophie. No matter what. I'll always protect you, and take care of you. Whenever you need me, I'll be there to back you up. Even when you feel like you can't do it, just don't forget that I've got your back…baby," he said, deliberately repeating the newly-discovered favoured term of endearment of hers.

She smiled.

And he smiled back.

"You're really cute when you smile. I mean, you're cute even when you're not smiling, but…" Lok fumbled with the words.

"Shut up, Lok," she said jokingly, planting a long, loving kiss on his lips.

"Come on, let's go find the others," he said after a few minutes, recalling Pendragon into his amulet.

"So, Lok, what did _you_ see?" Sophie asked, as they traversed the rainbow psychedelic void, Cherit flapping by his side.

Lok smiled sheepishly, scratching his head.

"Well, I-I mean, we-we were sort of…um, walking down the aisle at that cathedral in Venice, St. Mark's Basilica."

Her eyes widened in excitement.

"Really?" she asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. Really," he smiled at her.

"And then?"

"Then…then everything started…flickering. I kept going to this dark bedroom, and you were crying in a corner, in your wedding dress, except it was all trashed, and…and then Scarlet was lying on the bed…and she…and she tried…"

Sophie laid a comforting hand on his cheek.

Her touch seemed to relax him.

"I couldn't move or do anything in the bedroom, until I summoned the Willblade."

"Then Lok appeared in someplace which looked like where he went in Tir na nÓg after falling into that hole with Umbra and I," Cherit cut in, "and I got out of an amulet in the Willblade."

"Then Cherit gave me a kind of pep talk…and…well, I realised…I realised what you said at the Dragon's Cliffs…do you really think I'm a hero, Sophie? A knight? A champion?"

"Not just a hero, a knight or a champion, Lok. You're the Knight of the Willblade. Champion of the Casterwills. _My _knight. _My _champion. _My _hero."

"Really?" it was his turn to ask.

"Yes, Lok. Really. Look, you just saved me! Again! With the Willblade, 'the sword that saves the future queen'! And the Legendary Titan of Champions, after Lord Casterwill personally chose you to bond with him!"

"And Lok, in the end, you defeated the vice that even Sir Lancelot couldn't overcome: lust! Your love for Sophie and sense of right and wrong were strong enough to do so!" Cherit chipped in.

Sophie smiled sweetly at him.

"I keep telling you, you're a hero, Lok. _My_ hero. And I love you. Never forget that."

* * *

A younger Zhalia and Klaus walked, hand in hand, down the path in the park, flanked on their left by water and on their right by trees.

"It's a lovely day, isn't it, my dear Zhalia?" Klaus asked the little girl who clasped. The tenderness in his voice was, for once, not mocking.

"Yes, Uncle Klaus," she said sunnily. Ever since Klaus had taken her off the street and taught her how to be a Seeker…well, everything started looking bright for her.

The pair came to a park bench overlooking the pond.

"Now, Zhalia, sit down, and I can read you your favourite story," Klaus smiled at her.

Zhalia smiled back, the happiest she would be for a long time to come, as she sat down next to the only father she had ever known.

Klaus produced a pink, hardcover book, and began: "Hard by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and his two children. The boy was called Hänsel and the girl Grethel. He had little to bite and to break, and once when great scarcity fell on the land, he could no longer procure daily bread."

"Klaus!" came a voice.

"Ah!" cried Zhalia, recognising the voice. It was that of Dante Vale.

"So, Dante Vale," Klaus said, getting up.

Zhalia found that both her mentor and herself were inexplicably now their present-day ages, and sprung to her feet herself.

Dante said nothing, and simply readied his fists.

"No!" Zhalia cried, but to no avail.

"Poisonfang!" Klaus snarled as he transformed back into his younger self

Dante, of course, was not so easily hit. He launched himself into the air, and brought his hands, encased in a Dragonfist spell, on Klaus.

Zhalia winced as she saw the two people she loved most in the world (alright, probably the _only_ people she loved in the world) fighting each other, she somehow knew, to the death.

"Stop!" she cried, half-heartedly.

"Armourbrand!" Klaus called, deflecting Dante's approach.

Zhalia knew she should help.

_But who?_

It was true that when it came down to it, she chose Dante over Klaus. But that was only because Zhalia had realised the web of lies, treachery and evil that Klaus had sucked and integrated her into. She had forgotten all about those golden days, like this, where they would just stroll in the park, and he would read her fairy tales.

But even after Zhalia had grown up into his personal elite agent, he had not forgotten her. Whenever he addressed Zhalia as 'my dear', she could sense some hint of that old tenderness with which he had regarded her as a child beneath it. And even in his bookshop, Klaus had used Zhalia's favourite fairy tale to designate the entrance to his secret lair. Klaus still loved Zhalia, maybe not as visibly as he did in the past, but no less: as his own daughter.

Dante easily recovered, as Klaus capitalised on this, rushing towards him.

"Venomhand!" he attacked Dante, but to no avail – the superior martial artist easily intercepted his punch, twisted his arm, forcing him to the ground, and kicked him in the face, sending him flying and landing him on his back.

"Zhalia, please…help…" he gazed into Zhalia's eyes pleadingly.

"I…" Zhalia stammered, averting his gaze.

Klaus returned to his older form, and forced himself to his feet, as Dante ran towards him, hands glowing red.

"Augerfrost!" he blasted Dante in the face. His attack was surprisingly fast and it caught Dante off-guard, pushing him back and sending him to the ground.

Dante recovered even faster, and launched a Touchram at Klaus, who barely managed to ward it off with an Armourbrand.

_Why is Dante attacking Klaus anyway? He was just reading a fairy tale to a little girl!_

This time, Dante closed the distance with ease, grabbed Klaus' shirt, and viciously pummelled the scientist's face, as he transformed into his younger self again.

_This can't be Dante._

_ This can't be the man who kissed me so tenderly over the canals of Venice…who trusted…and…and cared for me so much…_

_ But it _is_ him! I recognise the fighting style, the tone of his voice, every detail of his handsome, handsome face…_

_ Why is he doing this?_

Her face contorted into a visage of pain, anguish and inner turmoil.

_ I love Dante, but…this is wrong._

_ He's attacking an innocent man! True, he would later become one of his most ferocious opponents, but now, he's still innocent! He's just a slightly creepy scientist working for someone who's trying to achieve immortality. And if Dante keeps this up, he's going to kill him!_

_ Maybe he has a good reason…_

_ But Klaus is defenceless! There's no need to kill him!_

"No, Dante! Stop! Please!" Zhalia screamed.

Dante released Klaus, and with a last brutal punch, slammed his head, nose broken, several teeth missing, into the ground.

"Zhalia…" he moaned, pleadingly.

Dante grabbed Klaus' shirt, yanked his limp, barely conscious form up, and walked over to the park bench. The man was too dazed to realise what was going on.

But Zhalia wasn't.

"NO!" she screamed.

But before she could fire of a spell, he finished the deadly move: with a Dragonfist, he drove the back of the man's skull into the corner.

The back of Klaus' skull shattered fatally, with a deafening crack that filled the depths of Zhalia's soul with despair, and he slumped to the ground, as he transformed, for the last time, into his older form.

He turned to Zhalia, confidence in his smile and eyes, and not the slightest hint of regret at what he did.

"DANTE!" she screamed.

"How could you do that!? You attacked an innocent man, unprovoked, and killed him in cold blood!"

Dante said nothing, as hints of haughtiness permeated his smile.

"No!" Zhalia shouted.

"Dante, I…I love you, more than anything else. I really do. But…why did you do that?"

His smile turned cruel.

"Touchram!"

Zhalia's eyes dampened with sorrow as she dodged the attack, her fiancé having become her enemy.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked pleadingly.

He ran towards her.

"Mindsight!" Zhalia called.

She now could see each of his attacks before he performed them, and thus easily dodged and intercepted each one of them.

Zhalia slipped under an attempted headlock, sprung up inside his arms, and kissed him firmly.

"Dante, please!" she begged.

To her dismay, she only sensed him attempting to headbutt her.

Zhalia ducked, and reluctantly blasted him away with a Touchram.

He released a low, guttural growl, an inhuman look in his eyes, as he lunged towards her again, snarling, "Dragonfist!"

Still being able to read his thoughts, she easily sidestepped his attack.

He turned towards Zhalia, glaring murderously at her.

"Doublespell! Raypulse!" he blasted her in the chest.

Zhalia once again easily evaded the attack.

"RAAAAARGH!" he screamed in frustration, as he morphed, before a horrified Zhalia, into a full Nullifier.

Zhalia was petrified with fear, rendered immobile as the Nullifier lunged towards her.

"Touchram!" Dante's voice called, as a green blast knocked the Nullifier aside.

"Do your worst! Metagolem!"

The ton of rock slammed into the Nullifier, disintegrating it, and dissolving the world around Zhalia, leaving her in a rainbow psychedelic void.

"Dante?" she asked timidly, looking around for the man who saved her.

"Right here."

She turned to the source of the voice, as she saw Metagolem being recalled in the same direction.

Dante smiled warmly at her, as tears came to her eyes.

"Oh, Dante," she ran into his arms, sobbing.

They hugged each other tightly.

They separated after a long while.

"What did you see?" he asked her tenderly.

Fresh tears came to her eyes.

"I was walking…with Klaus…in a park…and…and then you attacked him…and killed him."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, wiping her tears away.

"It…It's not your fault. I know you wouldn't do something like that."

"Of course not. I would never do anything to hurt you. I would die to protect you, Zhalia, and everything, and everyone, you love," he kissed her.

He felt a juvenile urge to mock her apparent callous disdain for all things in general by joking about how that wouldn't be hard, but restrained himself for love of his fiancée. It would additionally have been an unfair charge; being the primary object of her passion and love, he could attest to that.

They gazed tenderly into each others' eyes for a long while.

"So…what did _you_ see?"

"Metz, before we defeated the Professor. I was praying for his recovery, and then he got up and…and ordered me to kill you," he said, unable to look into her eyes.

She laid a gentle hand on his cheek and turned his head, so as to gaze into his eyes. She knew how hard it would have been to discern the right choice between her, his beloved fiancée, and Metz, the man who had been a father to him, much like how Klaus was a father to her.

"I tried to reason with him," Dante continued, "but he was insistent. He transformed into a Nullifier, and I defeated him."

"You're always there for me, Dante," Zhalia said, smiling appreciatively, both of his actions in response to the prospect of her being harmed, and in his actions against the Nullifier that was actually trying to kill her.

_Even if I'm not. And that just makes me love you even more._

"Always have, always will be. And it's only going to get worse after we're married," he smiled mischievously.

"That's perfectly alright," she smiled and kissed him.

* * *

Den did a roll as a volley of Nullcurses sailed overhead.

"Ha!" he taunted Tantras and his team of Spirals, as Lok, Sophie and Dante joined him.

"You'll have to do better than that to stop us, right guys?"

"Keep quiet, and keep moving, kid," Dante said brusquely.

Den looked at him, puzzled. The remark stung somewhat, but he shrugged it off, as they ran into a chamber.

"Don't just stand there!" Tantras yelled at his Silent Soldiers.

"Get them!"

"Hurry up!" Sophie snapped at Den, as he ran through the door.

"OK, OK, jeez. Can't you guys chill?"

"Touchram!" Dante caved in the entrance.

"We don't have time to 'chill', Den," Dante said harshly.

"Yeah, these Spirals are really nuts! They're trying to destroy the world here!" Lok said.

"OK, I get it!"

Sophie shook her head. "You're just a kid, Den. It's not your fault if you don't know how serious this is."

Den glared at her.

"I'm not 'just a kid', Sophie."

She was about to reply, but Lok cut her off.

"Uh, guys?" Lok pointed, as pieces of rubble started falling off Dante's impromptu blockade.

"We'd better do something, and fast!" Lok cried.

Den frowned. He couldn't understand why his teammates were being so…_mean_.

"I have an idea," he said, walking up to the door on the opposite wall.

"No, Den, don't!" Sophie cried.

He ignored her.

_I'm not just a kid._

As he was halfway across the room, he felt the tile beneath his foot depress.

_Uh oh._

"Den, you idiot!" Sophie shouted.

Three Undergolem Titans materialised, one in front, one to the left, and one to the right of Den.

"Dammit, Den! Now we have to fight both the Spirals and the Undergolems!" Lok shouted.

"I knew you couldn't handle it, kid," Dante said.

Den's eyes flared.

"I'm not just a kid! I can fix this!"

"I think we've had enough of your help," Lok snapped.

"Well, fine! Let's see how you get out of this!"

The three looked at each other as something else exploded on the other side of the barricade.

"Fine," Sophie said reluctantly.

"What's your plan?"

"Everyone, hide!"

"Camoforge!" the four called.

The rubble pile was blasted apart, as Tantras led the Spirals in…

…only to be greeted by three Undergolems.

They didn't have time to register the severity of their situation before the Undergolems started pummelling them. They got off a few Nullcurses, but that was about it.

"FALL BACK!" Tantras cried frantically.

The Silent Soldiers seemed eager enough to comply.

"What now?" Lok asked Den, as they resumed visibility.

"Now, the three of you go back into hiding and let me handle this," he said confidently.

"Why do I have a feeling this going to end badly?" Sophie asked, before casting Camoforge on herself.

"Even the odds, VIGILANTE!"

Den's Titan materialised in front of him, drawing the attention of the Undergolems.

_Come at me._

"Powerbonded Vigilante, activate Cindercloak!"

Den rushed at the approaching Undergolems, and, with Titan-imbued alacrity, began scaling the nearest one of them.

Using his dagger and sword to aid him, he expertly traversed the Titan's body, as it attempted to strike him, only to damage itself.

The other Undergolems, apparently none too intelligent, also attempted to strike him, only to succeed in knocking out their fellow guardian Titan. The same trick worked easily enough to down the other.

And, as for the last one, with no-one around to deliver the blow needed to kill the Titan off, Den simply climbed all over it, until it had battered itself to death in a mistaken attempt to shake the pesky Seeker.

Den fell to the ground with a shock-absorbing roll, and got to his feet.

"Oh yeah," he said to his teammates as they reappeared, and Vigilante returned to his amulet.

"Who's the kid now?"

Before any of them could retort, everything around him melted away.

* * *

The two Silent Soldiers and Cerebrus closed in on a broken Sophie, a crushed LeBlanche, and a defiant Nimue.

And behind them all stood little Viviane.

"No!" Sophie cried. "It's over, and it's all my fault!"

"I wasn't brave enough," she said tremblingly.

Nimue stepped forth. The Spirals, sensing something different about her, wisely backed away.

"It is not over. I have one power left that is quite dangerous to our enemies. But…it has a price."

Sophie fell to her knees.

"Lady Nimue, no!" she pleaded.

"Your life is too important!"

"Worry not. The life of a Casterwill must sometimes be given for what is good and true."

"Get her! Quick!" one of the Silent Soldiers called, as a pair of Insect-Flyer-riding Silent Soldiers descended.

"Soulburn," the elderly Casterwill said with grim determination.

"Nimue! No!" Sophie cried.

And through it all young Viviane was too petrified to speak or act.

_So this is how Grandma Nimue died._

"Sacredblade!"

Waves of blue energy radiated outwards.

"Nimue!" Sophie cried, anguished, as she faded from existence.

The energies had no effect.

"No!" Viviane, Sophie and LeBlanche cried in unison, as the Spirals continued their advance.

Sophie and LeBlanche turned to Viviane.

"Viviane! What are you doing here?" Sophie asked.

"I—"

She suddenly felt compelled to examine her ring finger.

Somehow, the ring of Mythras, the Legendary Titan of Valour, was there, instead of being on Sophie's finger.

But before either could act, Nullcurses blasted Sophie and LeBlanche to the ground, both seemingly down for the count.

"No!" she cried again.

_Only one chance…_

But doubt started creeping in Viviane's soul. She had just seen her grandmother pointlessly disintegrate, and was now single-handedly in charge of the defence of the Fortress of Iron Will. If the Spirals interrupted the Rune Guardian ritual…

"Roar," Viviane called, her voice still somewhat shaky, "Legendary Titan of Valour, MYTHRAS!"

Nothing happened.

"No!" she fell to her knees.

"I wasn't brave enough," she echoed Sophie.

"How about now?" came a familiar voice.

She turned her head.

"Den!" she cried, ecstatic.

The two hugged briefly.

"Don't worry, Viviane," Den said, trying to get a hasty pep talk out before they both get disintegrated by the advancing Spirals.

"I've got your back. You're a Casterwill, Viviane. Be brave and proud! You can do this! And remember, no matter what, I'm here for you."

(A/N Wow, Den and Viviane are a lot like a younger version of Lok and Sophie)

She smiled sweetly at him.

"Thank you, Den."

She tried again, staring into the murderous eyes of the advancing Spirals.

"Roar," she cried, "Legendary Titan of Valour, MYTHRAS!"

With a blast of brilliant blue light, Cerebrus and the two Silent Soldiers on the ground were blasted away. The airborne Seekers blasted him with Nullcurses, but with a single swipe from Mythras, they were grounded and knocked out.

And the battle around them dissolved, leaving only Den, Viviane, and Mythras floating in the middle of a psychedelic rainbow void.

"Den? Where are we?" Viviane asked timidly, as she recalled Mythras into his ring.

"I…don't know," he admitted.

"But whatever it is, I think it split all of us up and trapped us in visions or dreams, like the one I saved you from."

"Thank you, Den," she hugged him once more, "again. This is the second time you've saved my life."

"Eh," he smiled confidently, "anything for a pretty girl."

He wasn't sure whether he'd fully thought through that reply before it rolled off his tongue. He supposed it was desperation from being trapped in a psychedelic rainbow void with not the slightest idea of his prospects of ever seeing the Earth again.

Her eyes lit up.

"Did you…"

"Yeah," Den nodded, still unsure as to what he was doing.

A cute blush came to her cheeks.

"You really think so?" she asked, self-consciously straightening her hair.

"Yeah. Really," he said, starting to regain mastery of his tongue.

"Also kind, and sweet, and cute, and courageous, and smart, and talented…do you want me stop talking and kiss you?" he asked, suddenly aware that she had been gazing into his warm chocolate-brown eyes with her own mesmerising sapphire orbs for quite some time.

"Yes," she nodded, not breaking eye contact.

"That'd be good," she smiled.

"Glad to oblige," he leaned in.

And they kissed, the psychedelic rainbows forming a decent, if unconventional, backdrop to the intensely romantic moment.

After a while, Den leaned back, and started, "You know—"

But Viviane cut him off, raising a finger, and pulled his head back down into a kiss once more.

And then all Den could think of was how incredibly cute and adorable his new girlfriend was.

Viviane kissed him for several minutes, and then finally released him.

"Now," she smiled cutely, "you were saying?"

Den cleared his throat, smiling.

"I was about to say that…well, ever since Dante's birthday party, when I, y'know, bumped into you…well, I couldn't get you out of my head. And I got really worried when the Spirals were attacking the Casterwill caves. I was really worried…for you. But don't worry, Viviane. I'll never leave your side again. I'll protect you at all costs, even if it kills me. Because…because I love you."

She smiled at him, gazing straight into his eyes. "I was sure that there was something special about you when we met at the party. Something beneath that dashingly handsome face, that rugged husky voice, those warm brown eyes…even that…that brave, kind heart of yours," she gently laid her hand on his chest.

"That something…that something is you, Den. You. I love you."

Den's heart melted, as each leaned in towards the other for another long, gentle yet passionate kiss, which only broken many minutes later.

"So I guess…this means we're, like, boyfriend and girlfriend now? Like Lok and Sophie?"

Viviane smiled, and nodded. "And hopefully, someday, husband and wife."

The thought was a very pleasant one to both.

* * *

A violent shove sent Harrison to the ground.

The boy grabbed his shirt and yanked him upright.

"So, ready to tell us what happened to your parents?"

Harrison was frightened and confused, incapable of speech.

The boy, faced with his silence, shoved him aside.

"Den…" he whimpered weakly, knowing his brother would come to his aid.

Should.

Didn't.

His eyes flared, as he resumed full control over himself. He was trying to break the habit of using Nullcurse as his choice offensive spell, but this time, he was too enraged and forlorn to resist the temptation.

"_Now, say it! Nullcurse!_" Tantras' disembodied voice egged him on.

Understandably, he had his reservations about following a course of action recommended by Tantras. But in his rage he brushed these aside.

"Nullcurse!" he snarled, blasting the boy away with an explosion. The storm of dark emotions brewing within him only contributed to his strength.

The others backed away.

"_These boys called you names. Picked on you! They hate you,_" the voice came, now seemingly from an external source.

He looked around. A red-and-black phantom Tantras seemed to have materialised behind him.

He reached for the amulet nonetheless, as he struggled to reclaim control of his body from the blind hatred that was now fuelling him.

"_Gather your anger, Harrison. Your loneliness! Your hate!_ _Turn them against your enemies…with Marauder._"

Harrison felt the destructive malevolence radiating from the amulet in his palm.

"Bring chaos! MARAUDER!" he succumbed.

Marauder advanced towards the boy Harrison had blasted, who struggled away in futility.

"_He is weak! FINISH HIM!_"

Harrison blinked.

_No…I've already stopped them…if I'm going to kill them, I'd be no better than they are! In fact I'd be a murderer – even worse!_

He turned to Tantras.

"Marauder, attack _him_!" he pointed.

The eyes of the phantom Tantras widened in fear, but he failed to react otherwise before Marauder, blades and all, ploughed through him, dissolving everything around Harrison, save for Marauder.

* * *

"Lane," came Lucas' voice.

Lane got up and walked into the study where he sat on an armchair, gazing out the window.

"What is it, Lucas?"

"Lane, I have a special mission for you."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"What is it?"

"I need you to eliminate my sister's team."

And then everything came crashing down.

"E-Eliminate? As in…kill?"

"Yes," he said, tersely.

"But…why?"

"Sophie cares greatly about her teammates, and depends on them. Without them she doesn't stand a chance, and she knows it."

"So? Isn't that a very good reason _not_ to…eliminate them? I mean, aside from the fact that this would be murder?"

Lucas sighed.

"Lane, I know I can trust you. I love my sister a lot, and I thought I lost her in the fire at the mansion. But, now that I know she's alive…I'd do anything to make sure I don't lose her. Without them, her dreams will all come crashing down. She'll see how dangerous her quest is, and abandon it. Only then will she be safe from the Spirals."

"But…Lucas! This is murder!"

"Are you disobeying a direct order, Lane?" he stood up.

She stepped back.

"L-Lucas, please…"

"There will be no compromise on this mission. I want every one of her teammates dead, Lane."

"N-no."

"'No'? What do you mean, 'no'?" he whirled around, glaring murderously into her eyes.

"I won't murder innocent people to relieve your phobia!"

"Lane!" he snarled dangerously, his voice guttural.

"Please, Lucas! She's perfectly capable of handling herself!"

"RAAAAARGH!" he lunged at her, transforming into a Nullifier mid-way.

Chaos streamed from his? its? 'mouth' and 'hands', erratically disintegrating everything around these origins.

Lane stood petrified, as the monstrosity advanced towards her.

A few seconds later, she recovered her sanity and fled.

"Kindlestrike!" she heard Lucas cry in the distance.

"Newlife!"

She turned back…

"Rippleburst!"

…only to see Templar (A/N Templar was also employed in the Battle of Stonehenge) driving his sword through the Nullifier's head, the real Lucas standing off to one side, and Kevin launching a blast of yellow energy at the Nullifier.

And as the Nullifier disintegrated, so did everything else around Lucas, Lane, Kevin and Templar.

"Oh, Lucas," Lane sobbed, running into his arms.

"It was…terrible."

He softly patted her back, calming her down.

"What was it?" he asked gently.

"I…you…you asked me to do something terrible…and…and I'm sorry, Lucas, I had to refuse."

He hugged her loosely, giving her some time to cry it out.

"It's alright, Lane. You know I'd never do that."

She gazed tenderly into his eyes, and was about to say something, when Kevin cut them short.

"We have to find the rest," he interrupted.

"Right," Lucas cleared his throat, releasing Lane from his embrace.

* * *

The Nullifier blasted Lucas. Fortunately, he wasn't close enough to catch the full brunt of the attack. Unfortunately, it was still more than enough to kill him.

"No!" Dellix cried, rushing towards the monster which was slowly disintegrating his team leader's torso.

"Kindlestrike!" he blasted it, breaking its grip.

"Hyperstride!" he launched himself towards it.

The Nullifier had no time to defend itself before Dellix plunged down with his sword, calling "Lightedge!"

It crumpled to the ground and disintegrated, as Lucas, _sans_ about fifty percent of his torso, crashed to the ground.

"Lucas!" he cried, concerned, as he ran up to his leader.

"There'll be no need for that," came a voice behind him.

Dellix whirled about.

"Lord Casterwill!" he cried, falling to his knees.

"There'll be no need for that, my child."

"No, my lord, it is proper. It is right and just."

"You _need_ to get up," Lord Casterwill said firmly.

"That's an order!"

Dellix reluctantly complied.

"Lord Casterwill, lend us your strength! Your son lies dying here, and you, mightiest of Seekers, can heal him!"

To his shock and dismay, Lord Casterwill shook his head.

"No, my child. Lucas has been through enough. Put the child out of his misery."

Dellix's eyes widened.

"What are you suggesting, my lord?"

"Euthanise him! Relieve his suffering!"

"My lord! How could you _say_ such a thing!?"

"This is mercy, my child. Now do as I say."

"This is not mercy, my lord! This is the sin of murder!"

"Do…as…I…SAY!"

In a highly ironic twist, Lord Casterwill morphed into a Nullifier himself.

"The true Lord Casterwill would never order his children to sin," Dellix hissed.

"Hyperstride!"

The Nullifier made a swipe at him, which he fortuitously evaded as he got ever closer to its head.

"LIGHTEDGE!"

With a single mighty blow, the Nullifier was vanquished.

And the world dissolved around Dellix.

* * *

"Wake up, John," came a feminine voice.

"Ungh…what…"

"Wake up," the possessor of said voice giggled.

"Are you…are you Renee?" he blinked, as the image of his crush back in the lab came into focus.

In a bikini. Reclining next to him. On a beach.

"That's right, stud," she said, running a hand down his abs.

He blushed intensely.

_Wait…I have abs?_

Slowly, he got up, examining himself. He was stripped down to a pair of swim trunks, but that was perfectly alright. After all, his skin was perfect and unblemished, all his physical defects and oddities, scars wounds and the like, had vanished, leaving him perfectly symmetrical, and he had bulging muscles. And, for the first time in _ages_, his intestines didn't feel like ticking time bombs.

_This is odd. Not entirely unpleasant, but odd._

"Come on, big boy," she giggled again, leading him (still very much puzzled) into the interior of the island.

"Welcome to the Island of Delight, John," she said, as they walked down a boulevard with wild, random tiling, lined by buildings that look like they had been designed by a mob of pre-schoolers.

"All your needs will be taken care of. No-one grows old here, or falls sick. There is no pain, and no death. You can eat anything you want with no consequences. We have servants at your beck and call to deliver whatever you wish to you, and a perfect virtual simulation entertainment system. And…" she smiled seductively, as they passed by a pool populated by Sophie, Zhalia, Lane, and a handful of other attractive women, all clad in bikinis (of course), apparently playing some form of water polo.

"…you can have anything you want, without any consequences whatsoever," she traced a line down his muscular chest with her finger, smiling seductively.

"You never have to lift a finger ever again."

John still looked vaguely troubled.

"Have any of the servants received the Sacrament of Holy Orders?"

Renee frowned.

"No. Why?"

John's eyes widened.

"Then how am I supposed to attend Mass? Receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion? Reconciliation? _Matrimony_?" he grew increasingly panicked.

"Why worry about heaven, when you can have all the pleasures you could ever dream of in Heaven on Earth?"

"But…please tell me there's a library!"

"Well, we do have a rather vast…_adult_ selection," she smiled suggestively.

"No books on physics? Theology? Philosophy? Politics? Poetry? Anything?"

"Who would ever want to read that?"

"Well…you must have some kind of art around here! Some paintings, or maybe movies or TV shows…_The War of the Vendee _(A/N very recent and obscure)? _The Twilight Zone_?"

"Well," she smiled saucily, "I could get someone to film us…"

"No! Is there no Beauty to be found in here? No Truth to be sought?"

"Why would you need that, when you have pleasure?"

"And…and…oh, goodness, can I even leave this place?"

"No," Renee asked, puzzled. "Why would you want to?"

"No…no…how am I to execute my Duty and uphold Order now, trapped on this island of carnal delight?"

Renee started looking at him strangely.

"Shall I forsake the Perfect Infinity of the Heavenly Beatific Vision for an eternity of carnal pleasure? Oh, Lord, deliver me from this fate!"

Her glare now took on a positively dangerous quality.

"You will stay here, John, and you will forget about all your stupid obsessions with Beauty and Truth and Duty and God, or…"

"Or what?"

"AAAAARGH!" she screamed hysterically.

John started panicking. No longer trusting in the matter surrounding him, he readied himself only with his own arsenal of spells.

"Lightgauntlet!" he covered his arms in light, and moved into a combat stance.

As Renee continued screaming, John looked about, puzzled as to what it was, precisely, that was supposed to be happening. There were no guards appearing or anything. No klaxons going off.

And then he realised it. The ground was changing colour and consistency, into some kind of flesh: a cold, black, lifeless, perverse mockery of flesh.

"Spidertouch!" he anchored himself to the ground as the sun, sky and sea dissolved, and part of the island (which he was standing on) heaved and rose into the air, his muscles dissolved, he suddenly became somewhat flabby, he got his clothes back (fortunately for him), and his intestines started gurgling up a storm.

John was on the Nullifier's hand and at eye level with it. But given that the eye itself was broader than he was tall…

"There is no God," it boomed, in a most Nietzschean fashion.

Its voice, raspy and guttural, seemed to echo, more within his head than without.

"There is no Order. There is no Truth. There is no Beauty. There is no Duty."

"There is only Chaos. Chaos will destroy your soul. Chaos will destroy your mind. Chaos will corrupt everything. Chaos will consume everything."

John had studied Nullifiers before, and had found them to ontologically and metaphysically interesting, and frequently expressed a wish to be able to observe one up close.

He was starting to regret that.

"Starting with you," it brought him close to his face and leaned in.

Alarmed, John did quite possibly the stupidest thing possible.

"Hyperstride!" he back-flipped.

Off the hand.

And into a drop of several hundred metres.

"Bubblelift!" cried frantically, slowing his descent.

"If that was an attempt to get me to disintegrate myself, then I regret to inform you that chaos knows its own, and will not destroy its servants."

"But we will!"

John and the Nullifier looked down to see Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia, Den, Harrison, Viviane, Kevin, Lucas, Lane and Dellix blasting the legs of the Nullifier with a mix of Touchrams, Kindlestrikes and Raypulses.

The Nullifier guffawed.

"Do you honestly think you puny humans can stop me? You could not defeat the normal Nullifiers in your world without those stupid Titans, and now, you have no hope of vanquishing me, Drakkon the Insane, mightiest of Nullifiers! For ages I have dwelt in this realm of madness, the realm of madness which gave you those visions. It is remarkable that you all managed to escape them. Nonetheless, I have been strengthening myself with the chaos and insanity of it all for all these ages! Now I am undefeatable!"

"Everyone," Dante shouted, "Get your Legendary Titans out! Lord Casterwill defeated the Nullifiers with them, so maybe they can help us now!"

Den turned to Viviane, who was looking more terrified than ever.

"Vivi…"

He caught himself.

"That's a cute nickname," he remarked.

She smiled, temporarily forgetting the danger and losing herself in the eyes of her boyfriend.

"I like it."

"OK, anyway, Vivi, I need you to be brave," he held her hands.

"I need you to be brave enough to use Newlife on Mythras."

"Th-that shouldn't be a problem," she said, the fact that he was holding her hands and gazing intensely into her eyes contributing as much to the stammer as the fact that they were facing a gigantic Nullifier several hundred metres tall.

"I did in the Casterwill caves."

He kissed her forehead.

"Look, Vivi, I know you're scared, much more scared than you were back there. But everyone's counting on you. So we need you to do this. You're a brave girl, Vivi. I know you are. Even if you feel like you're not, don't forget that I've got your back."

She nodded smiling.

"Good luck kiss?" she smiled innocently.

He gladly obliged her.

Viviane breathed deeply, calming herself.

"Newlife!" she called, voice shimmering with courage.

The mighty Titan emerged, inspiring the rest of the Seekers in the face of the unimaginable evil of the Nullifier.

Dante and Zhalia looked on, smiling.

"Looks like Den's found his own Juliet, Romeo," Zhalia told her fiancé jokingly.

"Well, good for him," he smiled.

Sophie turned to Lok.

"Lok, I know it's only been a short while since you used Pendragon, but…we need every Legendary Titan we can get."

Lok nodded in understanding.

"If anything can defeat Nullifiers, it's the Legendary Titan of Champions," he said.

Sophie kissed him on the cheek.

"Do it for me, my champion," she smiled.

Lok blushed slightly, and then took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Bladecall!"

The mighty Willblade materialised in his hands.

With a great degree of effort, he forced Pendragon out of his amulet.

"Aaaah! Awaken, Legendary Titan of Champions, PENDRAGON!"

Lok lowered the blade, exhausted, as the mighty dragon materialised before him.

And then, in a Herculean display of willpower, he called once more, "Awaken, Legendary Titan of Summons, QUETZALCOATL!"

Serpent and dragon stood by the lion, the three Legendary Titans defiant in the face of the towering evil they faced.

Lok fell back, weak and barely conscious, into Sophie's arms.

"Sophie," he whispered weakly, "invoke…Phoenix…"

"Are you sure…"

"I'll be fine," he smiled reassuringly.

Sophie kissed him, and laid him down to rest.

She glared defiantly at the towering Nullifier.

"Rise, Legendary Titan of Rebirth, PHOENIX!"

This time, fortunately, her head did not turn into that of Kiel.

The four Legendary Titans stood, arrayed, dwarfed by the Insane Nullifier but defiant nonetheless.

"Legendary Titans," Sophie, Viviane and Lok cried (the latter albeit somewhat weakly), "ATTACK!"

The other Seekers resumed blasting the Nullifier with their spells, as energy swords, blasts, and flames struck the monstrosity…

…to no avail.

Drakkon laughed even louder.

"That might have felled one of those which attacked the Earth. But I am not them. I am far stronger!"

Enormous vortices of pure chaos shot towards them from the Nullifier's hands.

The Seekers wisely scattered.

Fortunately for them, the vortices ended a distance above the ground, after which their energies started diffusing.

John's fall finally ended.

"Guys, wait!"

The fleeing Seekers turned back, and re-gathered.

"A Nullifier's primary form of attack is the projection of extremely pure weaponised chaos. Pure as it is, it can only be channelled for a short distance. So after that, it becomes erratic, and propagates randomly. It is very unlikely that it will be able to hit us if we're standing…"

A lance of chaos darted out, passing a few centimetres from John's nose.

He blinked.

"Anyway, that was an anomaly, and most likely won't…"

Another bolt passed clean between his legs.

He cleared his throat, but before he could speak, had to dive out of the way, as, to the suppressed laughter of the other Seekers, another bolt nearly disintegrated his heart.

"Dammit, God! Why can't you make the laws of probability work when it counts?" he shouted skyward sarcastically.

"Maybe because there is no God!" the Nullifier boomed, still trying to bend the chaos sufficiently to his will to disintegrate the pests at his feet, who were proving particularly resistant to his attempts to eradicate them.

"No-one's asking you!" John shouted back.

"Anyway, listen, what the Nullifier said about damaging himself isn't exactly true. The purer the chaos, the more destructive it is to order. Even its own. It is ontologically necessary. The Nullifier isn't attacking us with perfectly pure chaos, though: pure chaos must yield to even the weakest of order, just like darkness must yield to the weakest of light. This form of chaos also respects spatial paths: it doesn't jump from here to Venus; it must travel in a straight line. The Nullifier is already saturated with chaos. Focus enough of it into one place and it will start disintegrating the Nullifier from the inside out."

"And I think I know how I can make this work," Dante said, smiling confidently.

"Well, so much for the Nullifier," Zhalia smiled, "Dante's got a plan."

They kissed briefly.

"John, do you have any of those gate crystals left?"

"Of course. I always keep some in reserve," he said, producing two more.

He held them together.

"Gatebind!"

Dante took them.

"Lok," Dante bent down to his crippled student.

"Can I borrow Quetzalcoatl?"

"Sure," he said listlessly.

"Quetzalcoatl, do whatever Dante asks."

The serpent turned back, and nodded in acknowledgement, before skilfully evading another clumsy swipe from the Nullifier.

"I was going to ask Lok to ride Pendragon, but seeing the state he is in, I think Sophie would be a better choice—"

"No!" Lok said vehemently, somehow forcing himself to his feet.

"I won't risk letting Sophie get hurt," he said, steel in his eyes.

Dante nodded.

"Very well, then."

"Most chivalrous of you, Master Lambert," John said.

Cherit flapped down.

"Alright, Lok. Here we go!"

Cherit blasted Lok with red energies, and then collapsed.

Lok felt his energy returning to him.

Sophie gently laid her hands on her boyfriend.

"Let's see if I've got this right…Powerflow!"

The reddish glow about Lok grew brighter.

John walked up to the boy.

"_Dominus vobiscum _(A/N Latin: the Lord be with you), my friend," he said sincerely, laying his hands on him.

Lok looked into the boy's eyes. They were far too old for someone of his appearance and mannerisms.

"Powerflow."

The reddish brilliance about him soared to new heights, and Lok felt more energised than ever.

Dante passed him one of the crystals.

"Alright, we're going to need perfect timing for this. Zhalia will cloak the two of us and our Titans, like how she cloaked Sophie and you at Stonehenge, while the rest of you blast the Nullifier and keep it occupied. The illusion will allow us to speak without anyone else hearing us. Fly up in front of the Nullifier. When I give you the signal, start blasting the Nullifier. Zhalia should notice this and drop Lok's cloak. Then Lok, use the Gatecleave spell to open a portal right where all three of the Nullifier's blasts converge. Then I'll open mine, and we can give it a taste of its own medicine. I'll disintegrate its torso; I don't think a head and a bunch of limbs can do much."

John nodded.

"Yes, that should work. The crystal gates simply create a spatial path between two circular areas, which the propagation of the chaos should respect."

"Alright," Dante said, "Lok, Zhalia, let's go."

Lok gave Sophie one last quick kiss, as Dante gave Zhalia, and they mounted their Legendary Titans, while the other Seekers blasted the Nullifier with their choice offensive spells.

"Thoughtspectre," Zhalia called, and Lok, Pendragon, Dante and Quetzalcoatl vanished.

The next volley had a somewhat more unexpected effect: the Nullifier reared its head back and screamed. It was intensely painful, not just because it was so high-pitched, but because it affected them psychically as well. Fortunately, Zhalia, having been trained to resist this sort of thing, managed to maintain the illusion.

The Nullifier glared at the Seekers.

"THAT'S IT! EMBRACE MADNESS! HARLEKIN!"

"Wait, Nullifiers can't be Seekers…" John protested.

But that didn't change the fact that Harlekins were now tearing through the psychedelic rainbow background and attacking the Seekers.

Their eyes widened in alarm.

"Everyone, protect Zhalia!" John shouted, blasting one of the approaching Harlekins with an Augerfrost.

Sophie grudgingly stood between her long-time rival and a horde of Harlekins.

"If only to ensure Lok's safety…Fight with me, Sabriel! Join us, Sorcerell!"

The sister Titans confidently took on the approaching Harlekins, Sorcerell torching them in scores (A/N hyperbole), and Sabriel mowing them down.

Den pulled out two amulets.

"Freelancer! Cursed Archer!"

Harrison produced only one.

"Strike them! Hitokiri!"

Lucas' squad chose to reserve their Titans for later, as did Kevin, who opted for his traditional armour and katanas.

Freelancer used his shield to great effect, pinning the Harlekins in fights and allowing the Seekers, or sometimes Cursed Archer, to get a clear shot at them. Kevin, much like Hitokiri and Dellix, simply carved through them. John's gauntlets of light, still persistent, enabled him to avoid having his arms severed while he grappled with the Harlekins, throwing and blasting them around with ease. And the rest simply bombarded them with spells.

The battle was furious, but swift. They were dropping Harlekins faster than they could count, but more kept pouring out. And then there was the perennial problem of the chaos bolts that could disintegrate you at any moment.

Fortunately for them, they only had to fight for less than a minute before Dante and Lok got into position.

Lok and Pendragon materialised in front of Drakkon.

"Say hello to my little friend!" Lok laughed, as he sent another swarm of energy blades into the Nullifier's face.

Drakkon, understandably, was enraged.

It lifted its arms.

"DIE!"

Waves of chaos surged forth from its mouth and both arms, all set to converge on, and disintegrate, Lok Lambert.

Sophie was now distracted from the battle, consumed only with concern for Lok.

She gasped as she saw the Nullifier fire on him.

"Lok!" she cried, reaching out her arm in a tender but futile gesture.

Smiling confidently, Lok waited till the last moment to toss out his crystal.

"GATECLEAVE!"

The Nullifier's eyes widened as it realised what had just happened.

"NO!" it screamed.

Zhalia dropped the illusion entirely, to her relief.

"Gatecleave!" shouted Dante, and the tide of chaos, enough to erase an island, surged instead into Drakkon's back.

"NO!"

As Dante and John predicted, the chaos in Drakkon's torso was saturated, and the additional chaos was enough to disintegrate it.

As the once-towering giant came crashing to the ground, a gaping hole in its chest, the Harlekins dissipated, and the remaining bits of Drakkon vanished without so much as a flash of light to commemorate its defeat.

Their adversary was no more. Literally.

"_Quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris_," (A/N Latin: For dust you are, and unto dust you shall return) John remarked poignantly.

And then the psychedelic rainbow void started disintegrating.

**A/N Aaaaand another cliffhanger. Wow, I didn't realise how cliffhangery this would be until I actually wrote it.**

** Once again, please review! Pleeeeeaaaaase! I may even consider not dropping so many cliffhangers!**

** Alright, let's take a look at the demographics of the origin countries of the characters:**

** Italy (Dante) – majority Catholic**

** France (LeBlanche [the name gives it away], Sophie) – majority Catholic**

** Spain (Santiago) – majority Catholic**

** Ireland (Lok, Scarlet) – majority Catholic (but because of what I have chosen Catholicism to represent, Lok was initially not Catholic)**

** Netherlands (Den, Harrison, Zhalia) – majority atheist, but largest single group is Catholicism**

** Britain (Casterwill family) – until 500 years ago, the most Catholic of European countries. The Casterwills, connected and international as they are, probably did not buckle to the influence of a regional revolution, even if Avalon was in that region.**

** Metz – married in Notre Dame, Catholic cathedral**

**As you can see, the reasons behind my choice in using Catholicism to symbolise what it does, as well as my choice in the assignment of religions to the characters, are perfectly clear. In fact I'm almost tempted to say that the creators chose these countries on these grounds (creator is Italian – majority Catholic). But that might be jumping to conclusions.**

** I've got a one-shot about Klaus and Zhalia after the events The Blood Spiral (S2E06) on my profile, reviewing their relationship in light of the events of this chapter. I believe it worth your time to read it.**

** NB: Kevin's vision, much like Dante's in The Legendary Titan of Fate, S2E08, has been purposely omitted. Make of that what you will.**

** And finally, a word on the comic series: there is a Huntik tie-in comic series, which seems to run parallel to Season 1. I can't find them all, so in case some technical novelty is introduced by it, I shall disregard it entirely in terms of canon. The events of the comics never happened, though if someone could pass me the comics (or, more likely, scans thereof), I would gladly modify that stance.**


	6. Chapter 6: Huntik

Chapter 6: Huntik

**A/N Sorry I left that you guys hanging on that cliff for quite a bit. Here we go.**

_Location unknown_

"AAAAAAAAAHHH—oof!"

The team lay there, stunned and exhausted, for a few moments, and then slowly got to their feet.

They looked around. They were surrounded by green fields and rolling hills dotted with clusters of trees. A river curved around one of the hills, its gentle flowing and the rustle of the wind in the trees being the dominant sounds in the landscape.

The sky above was azure, and lazy clouds drifted gently across, as gentle, pale-golden sunlight shone down on them. It almost looked like Earth, but the air tingled with magic.

"Where…where are we?" Harrison asked.

Each member of the group then heard a faint humming sound.

Lok opened his amulet bag.

"Hey, check it out! My amulets are all weird," he said.

John frowned.

"Chronocall!" he summoned his Chronicler.

Kevin did likewise.

"Cyphersummon!" called Sophie, Viviane, Lucas, Lane and Dellix.

John turned to them.

"If you fine ladies and gentlemen don't mind, I'd appreciate a boost in processing power."

They handed him their Cypherdexes.

"You can have mine too," said Dante, handing John his Holotome.

Kevin followed suit.

"Right," John straightened his shirt, and got to work.

"If I'm right," he said, as he expertly manipulated all eight Tomes, "then this place is…"

His Chronicler beeped.

He looked up at his colleagues, all of whom already had nagging suspicions as to their whereabouts.

"Huntik," all twelve (thirteen, if you count Cherit) said simultaneously.

"Ah," Cherit sighed happily.

"Huntik. Home."

"Wait…" said Lok, realisation and consequent joy slowly dawning upon him.

"My Dad's in Huntik!" he cried, exhilarated.

"Great," Den said, pulling out an amulet.

"Here, borrow Kaioh the Tracker. He'll help you find him!"

Lok nodded his head, jaw firmly set.

"I'm not going home without him."

Sophie gently touched his arm, and smiled at him.

"And I'll be right by your side all through it, Lok. We've been through so much together to help you find your father. I _will_ see it through, especially now that you're my boyfriend."

They shared a brief kiss.

Lok lifted the amulet.

"Show yourself, KAIOH THE TRACKER!"

The humanoid Titan, wielding a staff and a vine, materialised.

"Kaioh, find my father," Lok commanded, while bringing to the forefront of his mind the most vivid image of the man in his memory.

Kaioh extended his staff, as he turned about.

Finally, he stopped, and extended his staff further, pointing in a specific direction.

"Well, that way it is, then," John said, packing up his little processor farm of Tomes and returning them to their respective owners.

"Alright," Dante said, taking Zhalia's hand (once again, resulting in her blushing somewhat uncomfortably).

"Eathon would be an immense asset back on Earth, and he might be helpful for finding a way back. And at any rate, Lok's done so much for the team. We should repay the favour. Let's go."

* * *

Lucas walked up to the young couple leading the group, each showering overly saccharine displays of affection on the other. He passed Den and Viviane, who seemed to be emulating said couple, although this was of lesser concern to him, and Dante and Zhalia, each satisfied with merely holding hands and basking in the simple presence of the other.

_Sophie's got a boyfriend!_

That single thought had been occupying his mind since the group had converged to do battle with Drakkon the Insane Nullifier.

Ever since the fire in the mansion, Lucas had lamented his impotence in that situation. He had lost his sister, his parents, his servants, and his home. Of course, at that time he was old enough to know to seek out the other Casterwills, but he could never forgive himself for failing to stand his ground against the forces of evil, and, until recently, blamed himself constantly for the death of his sister, grieving over his inability to protect her. And all these sentiments had been brutally exploited by Drakkon and his realm of insanity.

So, understandably, since the scars that his excessive brotherly protectiveness, which had served to inspire his obstructive behaviour during their first campaign against the Blood Spirals, were founded on had been freshly inflamed by the visions he had been subject to, he was now particularly concerned about Sophie, in relation to Lok. The two had been holding hands and generally uncomfortably close when they met up with the rest of the group, and he sensed that they were only restricted from more intimate displays of affection by the pace which they were forced to travel at. Lucas nearly had a panic attack when she kissed Lok to encourage him when he was trying to summon Pendragon, and their later, more egregious shows of affection still aroused great discomfort within him.

He planted his hand firmly on Sophie's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks as she and Lok were about to kiss for the umpteenth time.

"Sophie!" he hissed harshly as he led her to one side.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just spending some time with my boyfriend, that's—oh…"

"What are you doing?" he repeated himself, as the two walked alongside the rest of the group, albeit without walking _with_ them, _per se_. "The fate of the world hangs in the balance and all you can think about is romance?"

"It's not _all_ I think about. At any rate, is there anything better to do? It doesn't matter if I'm walking with or without holding Lok's hand, I still travel at the same pace, right? And besides, he makes me feel relaxed, safe, secure..._happy_. He really loves me, and I love him. There's not much to it, Lucas."

"You're just _seventeen _(A/N See footnotes), Sophie. You're not old enough…"

"Not old enough? I can stop the Professor, lead the Casterwills, and defeat the Betrayer, but I can't discern whether I truly love someone else, and if he loves me back?"

Lucas sighed heavily.

"And besides, it's not like I'm getting married…well at least, not yet. But at any rate, this is just the common precursor to it! I'm not a girl any more, Lucas. The world may not treat me that way, but that won't change the fact that I am as mentally capable, responsible and mature as any adult, even if I don't have to be to deal with this. I can handle this, Lucas."

Lucas sighed again, and looked down, as they walked on, side by side.

"I suppose you're right. It's…it's just that…I failed you in the mansion, Sophie. I failed everyone. Now that I realise you're alive…I…I don't want to lose you again. I want to make sure I don't fail you again."

Her expression turned from one of irritation to tenderness.

"You didn't fail, Lucas. _You_ were too young."

"But I was a Seeker! A Casterwill warrior! And I let my home and everyone I loved burn down in front of me."

"You were only ten! You actually _were _just a child!"

"I keep telling myself that, but it refuses to go away."

She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, a stark contrast to the harsh, mocking, critical Nullifier-Sophie in his visions.

"You did your best, Lucas, and that's what counts. It's not about giving enough, but giving everything. And you did, but it wasn't enough."

Sophie gave him a comforting hug.

Their situation was an odd reversal. Lucas had helped Sophie up whenever she fell while they were playing back at the mansion, but it now fell to Sophie to help Lucas out of his depression.

"You may not have been able to save father…and mother…and the mansion…" she continued as they separated, "but I know you truly loved us all."

She turned her gaze skyward, as the eyes of both brimmed with tears.

"And I think they know too," she said softly.

They returned their gazes to each other.

"And I also think that they, like me, still love you."

A small smile came to Lucas' face.

"You did your best to fulfil your duty, but it wasn't enough. You were only a little boy. But that's not what matters. What matters is that you did your best, and you did it for the right reason and with the right intentions."

There was a pause, as Lucas contemplated what his sister told him.

"Thank you, Sophie," he hugged his sister after a long while.

_You have no idea how much that meant to me._

Up till then, he had been haunted by sporadic visions of his own failure in the dream he was trapped in less than an hour ago, of himself being slain by a demonic Nullifier-Sophie. This time, however, the image that came to mind was his sister forgiving rather than assaulting him.

They separated after the brief embrace, and continued walking with the others.

"So, can I go back to Lok now? I can tell he really loves me. Even his vision was about saving me. And even LeBlanche thinks he'd be a good match for me (A/N S1E02 The Casterwill Client)," she chuckled slightly at the last sentence.

Lucas smiled.

"Alright, Sophie," he said, this time relieved of the distress which would have otherwise plagued him upon so granting consent.

As she rejoined her Lok and Kaioh at the head of the group, Lucas, smiling, raised his eyes to the heavens, uttering a brief prayer for his parents' souls.

As he stared more intently into the sky, he could almost make out their faces in the clouds, smiling lovingly and gently at him.

His smiled widened, as he shed a single tear of joy.

"Thank you," he whispered, both to the Almighty, and to his parents.

* * *

The party, with Lok, Sophie and Kaioh at its head, continued heading towards Eathon through some dense vegetation.

Zhalia turned to her fiancée.

"Dante, this is Huntik, the Titan World, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"So, where are all the Titans?"

As if on cue, Lok stopped the group.

They all fell silent, and rested their hands on their amulets.

Lok touched Sophie's arm, and gestured towards some of the undergrowth.

"Do you see it?" he whispered to her.

She looked closely, as the rest strained their eyes to see what it was Lok had found, without moving from their positions.

As quietly as they could, the young couple crouched down to examine the object that Lok had spotted protruding from the plants.

They only managed to glimpse it for a few brief seconds before it retreated into the darkness of the undergrowth.

It was the snout of a canine or lupine creature, midnight-blue and dotted with azure stars. Deeper in the darkness, which was faintly illuminated by the stars on the creature's skin (although they appeared to be inside rather than on the surface of the creature), were a pair of turquoise eyes.

Lok realised what this creature would have to be.

"It's Jirwolf!" he almost cried, but he managed to reduce his ecstatic exclamation to a whisper.

"My father had one of these!"

He leaned in as Jirwolf retreated further.

"Don't be scared, little guy. I'm looking for my Dad. Can you take me to him?"

"Lok, how do you know that's your father's Jirwolf?" Sophie asked.

"Well, it was worth a shot," he said, getting up, his attempt at soliciting the Titan's help evidently having failed.

And then they heard the snarling.

Before anyone could react, all around them, Jirwolves lunged from the undergrowth.

John, fortunately, remembered in time what these creatures were capable of.

Summoning all his willpower, he cried out: "FORMBREAK!"

Purplish-blue energy surged forth, forming a dome over the Seekers, and dispelling the magical distortions in time and space that the Jirwolves were causing, preventing the Seekers from being immobilised.

Dante counted eight attackers, as John lowered his arms and the form-breaking energies faded.

"Kaioh!" Lok shouted, "Tie them up!"

The Titan complied, wrapping a pair of the Jirwolves in vines.

But it was no use. The Jirwolves shifted to astral form, their midnight blue bodies turning clear, the blue energies silhouetting them and the similarly-coloured stars dotting their forms turning turquoise, and they easily phased through the ropes.

"Doublespell! Rippleburst!" Kevin roared, but the two Jirwolves shrugged it off, and, in unison with the other six, blasted the party of Seekers instead, with bluish-turquoise pulses that seemed to come both from every part of their body and no particular part at the same time.

The Seekers threw up a variety of defensive spells, but the blasts from the Jirwolves in astral form seemed to share some physical characteristics with their originators, and bypassed the shields, exploding with violent force and knocking everyone off their feet.

Lok, lying on his back, winded from the explosion, turned to the dazed Cherit by his side.

"Cherit! Try talking to them!"

"OK," the Titan said, sounding anxious.

He flapped into the air, as he searched his memory. Cherit had, it seemed, lived too long to remember precisely how it was he had communicated with his brethren while he still lived in Huntik. He still remembered how to deal with his closer relations, but these…

The hostile Titans, however, didn't have time for this. Cherit had hovered above the others for mere seconds before all eight of their adversaries lunged at him.

Cherit panicked and released a powerful beam of purple energy at a random target. He struck one of the Jirwolves in astral form, and then there was a brilliant purple flash.

The Titan crumpled to the ground, having now reverted to his original form. The blue glow on him was much weaker now, though, and the creature appeared incapacitated.

This did nothing to alleviate the as-yet unexplained rage of the other seven Jirwolves, who continued lunging, with even greater ferocity, at Cherit.

The little Titan dove, as John managed, just in the nick of time, to cast Formbreak again, preventing them from being paralysed by the Jirwolves.

The spell did not, however, slow the Titans down. They were still proceeding through the air at high velocity towards the point formerly occupied by Cherit.

All seven of them.

Needless to say, the subsequent collision would have been quite comical if it were not for the fact that these creatures may very well have been trying to kill them.

The Seekers regrouped, with Lok stuffing the exhausted Cherit into his backpack, as the Jirwolves got to their feet, ready for round two.

The Seekers and Titans watched each other anxiously, neither ready to make the first move.

But at some hidden signal, the Jirwolves suddenly slinked away.

"Ha!" Lok laughed confidently, stepping forward.

"That's right, run aw—"

"Lok! Look out!"

Dante tackled him to the ground as a Dominator lunged over his head, swinging its spiked, wrecking-ball fists as it passed.

The two Seekers got to their feet as Dominator turned to face them.

Kevin fired first, and asked questions later.

"Ripplebur—"

Something slammed into him. Something massive. Furry. Spinning.

Lindorm.

Kevin, too, was thus sent to tumbling to the ground.

Lucas turned around to see another Lindorm, with five Feyones, murder in their eyes, behind him, all rushing towards them.

"Behind us!" Lucas drew the attention of the rest of the Seekers.

"You _can't_ be serious," Zhalia said.

"Uh, Dante?" Lok asked his mentor, as they, and Kaioh, circled around the Dominator.

"What?"

"You know, when we defeated the Professor?"

"Yeah?"

"He went into the portal to Huntik that Overlos created, right? And he used Dominator a lot…"

Dante sucked in his breath.

"Whatever it is, we're about to find out."

The company of Seekers had gone from a battle with an extremely powerful Titan, to a full-blown war, to battling a giant insane Nullifier, and finally, to this, all within the span of a few hours, when normally they would be afforded days or even weeks of rest between such massive operations. Many of their Titans had been exhausted already, and fatigue clung to their bones.

But still they endured.

"Lightgauntlet!" John readied himself for battle.

"I'll save Kevin."

"Lok and Dante will fight Dominator, and the rest of us will fight these ones!" Sophie said.

"On it," Lucas smiled confidently, masking his exhaustion.

"Sunlock!" he called, tripping up the Lindorm and breaking its charge.

"Flowrun (A/N New power)," John hissed, his body glowing with blue energy, as he sprinted towards the Lindorm attempting to mow his brother down.

Lok, despite having about an hour of light walking to recuperate, was still too exhausted from his earlier heroics to summon any more Titans, at least, any that would have a decent chance against Lindorm. He'd never really considered that he would one day have to fight _against _one of his favourite Titans.

Dante, on the other hand, was far less limited, and, since he had not previously summoned any Titans (save for Solwing, a minor effort), easily managed to invoke Caliban.

The highly skilled Powerbonded Titan charged at Dominator, who lunged forth, only to have his clumsy swings dodged by the nimble warrior Titan.

But as he continued on the trajectory of his lunge, before his feet reached the ground, Lok hastily ordered Kaioh, "Trip him up!"

Dominator's eyes widened in what appeared to be surprise as a vine whipped across his legs, sending him face-first into the ground.

"Let's hope this works," Dante muttered.

"Nimblefire!" he dashed towards Dominator.

The Titan tried to get to its feet, but Caliban jumped onto his back, coming down heavily and pinning him to the ground, pressing his twin blades into the unarmoured sections of Dominator's arms, dissuading him from moving them.

Dante laid his hands on the Titan's head.

"Darksleep!"

Fortunately, the spell worked.

The Titan slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Quick thinking, Lok," Dante commended his protégé.

"Thanks," he acknowledged the compliment, albeit somewhat hastily.

"But we've got to help the others!" he gestured towards where the rest of the Seekers were battling the other Titans.

Dante followed his gaze, and found Lok's eyes fixed on Sophie.

His own quickly shifted to Zhalia.

Meanwhile, John managed to catch the Lindorm attacking his dazed brother just in time to prevent it from initiating another charge, which might have somewhat more lethal consequences for the boy who now lay, incapacitated, on the ground.

John, with spell-induced fluidity, slammed an open palm, with his fingers slightly curved, into Lindorm's neck. He gripped it (well, some of it) firmly, and propelled himself into the air. He locked his legs around Lindorm's torso, and swung his other arm into the other side of the creature's neck, all in one fluid motion.

"Stopglue!" he called, adhering himself to the Titan in a magical adhesive cocoon.

By this point, the Titan had realised what was going on, and was trying to shake John, albeit with little success.

John enjoyed the ride for a few seconds, but then the creature got the bright idea of rolling over. John had the feeling that eight hundred kilograms of fur, bones and flesh lying on him would be nothing short of disastrous, so quickly finished the Lindorm off with a Darksleep, allowing it to crash, side-first, onto the ground, instead of landing back-first on John.

He then escaped his own bonds with a Formbreak, and went ahead to join his allies in the fight against the other Lindorm and the five Feyones.

Zhalia wasted no time in casting a Darksleep on the recovering Lindorm, leaving only the Feyones, who, despite their usage by the Casterwills as line infantry, were not precisely trivial matters.

Their energy blasts packed a surprisingly hard punch, winding Zhalia, Den, Harrison, Sophie and Lane, who had, till then, been preoccupied with the Lindorm.

Viviane impulsively ran forward to aid her boyfriend, but Lucas grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Stay with me," he hissed.

"Kindlestrike!" Lucas blasted at the attackers, but to no avail: the grace and swiftness of the Feyones, qualities the Casterwills had come to admire, value and treasure, had now been turned against them. Their enormous blades, also greatly appreciated by the foes of the Casterwills, posed a very direct threat to the Seekers: these Feyones were brandishing them quite menacingly and didn't look interested in brokering any kind of treaty.

"Sunburst!" Lucas called desperately.

They easily evaded the explosion.

Viviane's attempts were no more successful.

Dellix drew his own blade.

"Lightedge!" he charged it with blue energy.

Dellix had studied the art of swordsmanship all around the world, fusing countless styles into one eclectic, unique, and incredibly lethal form. He was the strongest, fittest and toughest member of Lucas' squad, and, much like Montehue, relied much more on his weapon than magic or Titans. He had been trained as a soldier, in fact, a knight: to serve the Casterwill family and its cause with unswerving loyalty, devotion and courage. But now, a creeping sensation of impotence was beginning to overcome him.

He had fenced with a Feyone before, but it was…gruelling, to say the least. His skill and technique, even when enhanced with the occasional spell, were countered Feyone's preternatural grace and speed. And furthermore, he was ever-reluctant to strike a lady, even if it was a Titan.

Even worse, this was Lucas' Feyone, and had acquired her Seeker's knack for strategy. This eventually led to his narrow defeat, after a battle that was nearly an hour long and utterly ruined the arena of battle.

But now, faced with five of the Titans, he was beginning to waver. Even subtracting strategic ability, the odds were still stacked heavily against him.

_But I will do my duty._

He got into a combat stance, steeling himself for what was quite probably his last battle.

"Run, Lucas!" he shouted to his leader.

Lucas' eyes widened.

"Dellix…"

"You and the others find a way back to Earth! I'll hold them off!"

Lucas looked torn. On one hand, it looked like they didn't have many other options. The Feyones' blasts had been very powerful; Lucas' teammates weren't quite unconscious, but it'd be a few minutes before any of them would be able to fight again.

He quickly formulated an escape plan: while Dellix battled the rampaging Titans, John would give Lucas the other crystal, allowing him to use the Riderless Chariot to escape with young Viviane and open the portal a sufficient distance away, and then have John open the portal and get Lok, Dante and John to throw the incapacitated members of the team through it, and finally jump through themselves.

Immediately he felt guilty for forming a plan that involved the near-certain abandonment of his teammate. But he knew it was unreasonable to expect anything else.

He sighed heavily.

"Alr—"

"ECCLESIA!"

The three Casterwills turned to the source of the sound, only to see John valiantly brawling with two of the Feyones, with only the gauntlets of light around his forearms sparing him dismemberment, as two more Feyones ran towards him. He had already disarmed one of them, as evidenced by the blade sticking out of the ground a distance away, and incapacitated another, as evidenced by the crumpled heap on the ground.

Dellix suddenly felt ashamed of his hesitation.

John had simply used Camoforge to sneak up on one of the charging Feyones and cast Darksleep on her. He retained the element of surprise long enough to disarm another one of them, but was subsequently locked in a brutal melee with the Feyone he had disarmed and another close-by one.

The Feyone who retained her sword was insistent on using it, despite the fact that, no matter how graceful she was, the amount of space John gave her to manoeuvre was simply insufficient. The disarming of the other one was a mixed blessing: she was now incapable of decapitating him, but she could, unlike her comrade, actually hit him.

Dellix rushed forth, adrenaline pumping, blade glowing, and surprised one of the Feyones charging towards John with a forceful downward pommel blow, magically enhanced with Solarstrike. The Feyone crumpled to the ground, unconscious, as Dellix plunged headfirst into a duel with the other.

Lok, Dante, Lucas and Kaioh ran to assist John, as he managed to activate Flowrun at just the right time to slip around and behind the unarmed Feyone, with a grace and fluidity on par with that of flowing water, and cast Darksleep on her.

The last Feyone was subsequently dispatched by Kaioh, who struck her hard on the head with his staff, concussing her.

Everyone paused for a moment to catch their breath.

"We have to go check on the others," Lucas panted.

But just when they turned back to tend to their companions, they heard a distant thumping sound.

They whirled aboutr], only to see a pair of Firbolgs leading a quintet of Gybolgs.

Their companions didn't look like they were about to awaken anytime soon, leaving only John, Lok, Dante, Lucas, Dellix, Viviane and Kaioh to face down the seven giants, when they already had had enough trouble with five Feyones.

The small group unconsciously retreated.

"Uh…Dante? What's the plan?" Lok asked him, voice trembling slightly.

But before the Seeker could reply, something arced overhead.

Dante instinctively threw up a shield, as the Seekers looked to see what it was.

The Jirwolves.

The seven sleek lupine Titans lunged overhead, trailing bluish energy which paralysed the seven hostile Titans.

The Jirwolves landed, and looked with anticipation upon the Seekers.

Dante dropped the shield, as Lucas reached forward.

"Sunburst!"

The Titans fell to the ground, unconscious.

John wasted no time in running to his incapacitated companions (as did Lok, Dante and Viviane, although they ran specifically towards their girlfriend, fiancée and boyfriend respectively rather than the others in general).

He stretched his hands out over them.

"Wakemist," he whispered.

A bluish cloud of vapour descended upon his friends, reviving them.

He repeated the procedure on his brother, bringing the party back to full strength

"Zhalia!" Dante cried in relief, hugging her tight.

Zhalia blinked, still slightly disorientated, as they separated.

"What…happened?"

"Don't worry, Zhalia. Everything's alright now. I was just a little worried after the Feyone blasted you," he hugged her again.

She smiled.

"Thanks, Dante," she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Lok rushed to Sophie's side.

"Sophie! Are you alright?"

"Yes…just a little sore," Sophie rubbed her head.

"But…" she gazed into his eyes.

"I'm alright now," she said somewhat dreamily.

Both of them smiled and kissed.

"Are you OK, Den?" Viviane asked her boyfriend, while gently and tenderly clasping his hand in hers.

He smiled somewhat weakly at her.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Vivi," he got to his feet, and gave her a quick hug.

"OK, everyone's back on their feet," John announced.

Dante nodded.

"Let's get going."

* * *

In the middle of a vast desert of blistering sand, there sat a dark fortress, mighty and forbidding, inhabited by all manner of Titans, all subservient to one entity that dwelled within, sitting atop a black throne in the bowels of this fortress.

And this entity was currently preoccupied with watching in amusement, through the eyes of a Kipperin, as a small band of Seekers made their way through his territory.

"Soon," the figure rumbled.

* * *

"What I don't understand is," Sophie said, as she looked on the unconscious, bound forms of the Feyones and Lindorms (the Firbolgs and Gybolgs had proven to be more trouble transporting than they were worth), "why were we attacked?"

The Jirwovles had led the party to a small cave, and one of them had left shortly after, while the others mulled about. The Seekers had (figuratively) dragged the unconscious forms of their opponents (as well as the Jirwolf Cherit knocked out) all the way there for them to analyse in peace.

Den and Viviane sat in a corner near the back of the cave, conversing softly, while the Lucas, Lane, Dellix and Harrison sat in another corner, resting silently. Kevin was curled up in another corner, possibly napping. Zhalia and Dante leaned against the wall of the cave, somewhat closer to the entrance, while John tapped away on his Chronicler while seated next to the pile of Titans. Lok stood beside Sophie as the two looked down on said pile, and Cherit snoozed in his bag at his feet.

"Well," John began, getting to his feet, "I trust you are familiar with the concept of archetypes?"

"I suppose so," Dante said. "I think I can feel what you're talking about from my bonds with my Titans."

"Well, Titans, as I mentioned before, are like demi-angels, in that they are, in a manner, much like angels, which are creatures of pure intellect, but yet very different. Titans, like angels, were created specifically for the utility of humans, in that they can be moulded to human will. Have you ever thought it odd that when a Titan is bonded to a Seeker, it is the Titan who is moulded rather than the Seeker? One would expect that such powerful creatures would have somewhat more concrete wills. Indeed the only Seeker I can think of right now who was ever influenced by a Titan is Simon Judeau, the Professor, whom you fought and defeated, and even then it was by a Legendary Titan, and not just any Legendary Titan, but the Legendary Titan of Mind, the locus where the material power of imagination and the immaterial power of intellect converge in order to operate in conjunction…"

Lok and Dante exchanged glances, realisation slowly dawning upon them.

_The Legendary Titan of Mind_.

When the Professor had been defeated, Overlos had taken the three Legendary Titans, their rings, and the Amulet of Will into Huntik, when Araknos latched on to the Professor and dragged him in to, presumably killing him. But the fact that they had managed to survive entry into Huntik, as had Lok's father, caused them to revise their opinion. Furthermore, there was no reason for them to believe that the entry into Huntik had severed Judeau's bond with his Titans, when it had not done anything to theirs.

Dante had personally seen the extent of hard-wiring that Araknos could achieve when they were attacking the Professor's castle. It had implanted pseudo-sapience in the mind of a dog, allowing it to summon Titans, albeit not by its own merit. It was not inconceivable that the Professor could have pulled a similar stunt here (albeit on a much larger scale), bending the minds of the Titans to his will.

But he decided to save that information for later, and let the nerd-boy finish his exposition.

"…while angels are creatures of pure intellect, and therefore can only be affected by immaterial, that is, spiritual, forces, the metaphysics of Titans are somewhat more complex. They are materially manifest, unlike angels, for their primary purpose was to assist humanity in combating the material form of chaos: the Nullifiers. The Creator, being eternal, knew of this unwanted intrusion of chaos from the beginning, but, for reasons known only to him, and that I am in no place to speculate on, chose to remove them by sending the Titans to Earth, and raising up a Champion among his chosen creatures, mankind: Lord Casterwill. Yes, they may say the Titans 'came' to Earth, but really they were sent."

"The material aspect of their nature was not…complete, shall we say, for all that was required was for the Titans to be able to fight the Nullifiers. In a manner of speaking, if we place, at the ends of a continuum, plants, which are purely material, and angels, which are creatures of pure intellect, and thus purely immaterial, humans would be right in the middle, having the immaterial powers of sensation, intellect, imagination, volition, _et cetera_, while animals would be placed between man and plants, having the immaterial powers of man _sans _volition and intellect. Titans, therefore, would be placed between man and angels in this taxonomy. Their material aspect, their behaviour, traits and appearances, strongly reflected their immaterial aspect, that is, their souls, which are, as I mentioned earlier, easily moulded by the will of Seekers bonded to the Titans in question."

"Well, anyway, each kind of Titan has a set of 'default' characteristics for its soul, which form a core archetype, with its own tendencies and quirks. Freelancers are valiant, Redcaps are bloodthirsty, Araknos could make a dark pact with the Professor (Lok and Dante were once more reminded of their hypothesis), and so forth. The very same Lindorm that Lok carries with him once so terrorised a village that they converted to Christianity just to get St. George, a Seeker, to stop him. Their destructive aggression easily explains their attack on us. But the others…I'm not too sure about Gybolgs and Firbolgs; I'm not quite the Gaia-Titan expert in the lab. But I'm pretty sure Feyones aren't prone to cruel murderous rampages. There might be a slim chance that all of them had entered some form of aggressive warrior frenzy, but this is unlikely."

"But what surprises me most is the behaviour of the Jirwolves. While fundamentally not as actively benevolent as Wolf Knights, they are certainly not nearly wild and violent as Fenris. Their dispositions are most like those of household dogs, and yet they attacked us unprovoked. But it seemed their quarrel was with those other Titans, given how they helped us combat them."

John frowned and looked down.

No one spoke for about a minute.

"What about Dominator?" Zhalia asked.

John perked up, as though rousing from a nightmare that had suddenly dissolved into consciousness.

"Dominator?"

His eyes lightened up, as the stagnating flow of thought within his head suddenly gained a massive amount of speed.

"I just realised that we've only encountered Gaia-Titans so far, and this area seems a lot like the kind of place a Gaia-Titan would live in. But I'm pretty sure Dominator isn't one; he's a Swara-Titan, I think."

"But Dominator is one of the favourite Titans of the Professor!" Sophie said.

John's eyes widened.

"Yeah," Lok said, impressed (as he ever so frequently was) with the intellect of his girlfriend, who seemed to have independently come to the conclusion.

"When we defeated the Professor, Araknos dragged him to Huntik," he continued.

"There's no reason to believe that he can't be using the Titan now to create an army of mind-controlled Dominators," Dante added.

The boy frowned in contemplation for a few moments, but before he could reply, the party heard a voice coming from outside their cave.

"Alright, alright, slow down…"

Lok's eyes widened, his heartbeat accelerating.

"Is that…is that…"

"Dad!"

Eathon, entering the cave escorted by two Jirwolves, was as surprised to see his son (and the party he was with) as Lok was to see him.

Kaioh had returned to his amulet long ago, but before that he had communicated to Lok that they were extremely close to Eathon, though he would not believe it until he saw the man with his own eyes.

And now he did.

"Lok!" Eathon cried joyously, rushing forth towards his son, who was enthralled and paralysed at the sight of his long-lost father.

Father and son, long separated, finally reunited in a tearful silent embrace.

Those looking on knew far better than to desecrate this moment.

"Dad…I've been waiting so long to find you," Lok said, tears of joy running down his face.

"I mean…it was really cool when I saw you through the Nexus and at Tir na nÓg, but…I haven't managed to actually see _you_ for a long time."

"Well, son, here I am," he smiled.

"But how did _you_ get here?"

The Seekers looked at each other.

"It's a long story, Mr. Lambert," Zhalia said.

The man nodded.

"I see. But would you care to introduce me to your friends, Lok?"

"No need for that, Mr. Lambert. You are known throughout the world for your role in the Foundation," Dante said.

"Ah, Mr. Dante Vale," Eathon smiled.

"A pleasure to meet you," Eathon continued. "I suppose you could say you are now what I was in the heyday of my career as a Seeker. And I must thank you for being such an excellent mentor and trainer for Lok."

Dante nodded. "You're welcome, Mr. Lambert."

"And this is my fiancée, Zhalia Moon," Dante gestured to her.

Zhalia was currently feeling unusually self-conscious, with her stealth instincts massively boosting her aversion to the metaphorical spotlight, and thus another uncharacteristic blush began to grow on her cheeks (something she was getting used to, with Dante being so frequently affectionate with her).

"Hello, Mr. Lambert," she said, her tone free of her usual iciness.

"And this," Lok gestured to Sophie, who was also self-consciously blushing and looking away, "is my girlfriend, Sophie Casterwill."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lambert," she did a little curtsey.

Eathon smiled kindly at his son.

"Yes, I remember how lovely your mother looked when I was courting her."

The couple exchanged glances, their enthusiasm somewhat dampened by the thought.

John stepped forth.

"Mr. Lambert, sir, it's been a great wish of mine to meet you," he gripped the man's hand.

"Well, who might you be?"

"Ah, yes. John Thomas, _Ordo Quaesitorum_. Vatican Researcher-cum-Seeker. We've existed in secret for over a millennium, but this time, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, sir, and we've chosen to work more actively with the Foundation to counter such threats."

Eathon nodded.

"Rassimov using the Necklace was a lot more harmful than he could have ever realised."

"Indeed, sir."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"That lump in that corner over there is my brother, Kevin," John picked it up again.

Eathon nodded once more.

"That's Den, another of our team members," Sophie gestured, "and his girlfriend Viviane Casterwill. And over there is Harrison, Den's brother."

Lucas got to his feet.

"Hello, Mr. Lambert," he shook the man's hand.

"I'm Lucas, Sophie's brother, and these are my associates Lane and Dellix. The Casterwill family has heard a good deal about your exploits in the Foundation, sir."

"Well, thank you," he smiled. "I'm flattered."

He turned to the rest as John attempted to wake his brother in a not-so-nice manner, resulting in a rather childish mini-magic-skirmish.

"So, now that we've all been introduced, I think we have enough time to share that story of how we all got here."

"Not quite, Mr. Lambert," Dante said. "You remember Simon Judeau?"

"Yes," Eathon said, deep pain evident in his voice. The memory of his friend's treachery was not a pleasant one.

"Well, Lok used Baselaird and Dendras to take control of Overlos and command him to open a portal to Huntik and go through with the three Legendary Titans."

"And, after we ran into these Jirwolves," Sophie gestured to the Titans walking about in the cave, "who attacked us, but ran from a Dominator and a handful of Gaia-Titans."

"And Dominator is one of the Professor's signature Titans," Zhalia added.

"So, we think that the Professor may have been using Araknos to control these Titans, instead of bonding with them himself," Dante concluded.

"And I think I just confirmed that," John said, not looking up from his Chronicler as he manipulated it, continuing to analyse the Titans.

"These Titans are under the influence of some kind of very powerful mental magic, the sort we would expect from a Legendary Titan. There are only a few specialised spells and Titans that can remove such delicately emplaced magic. But more worryingly, this Dominator is under some other kind of enchantment. His spikes, as you should know, have very powerful magical properties and can affect the behaviour of Titans. But whoever it is we are up against has put a specialised enchantment on them, a conduit enchantment, that doesn't actually do anything, but basically acts as a receiver for magic transmitted in a specific fashion. I've managed to emulate the enchantment using my Chronicler, but I'm not getting anything."

"So that's how it works!" Lok cried.

"How what works, Lok?" Dante asked him.

"Don't you see? The Professor can't personally bring Araknos all over Huntik to control all the Titans! So he gets all the Dominators, who already have the spikes, enchants them with this conduit, and projects Araknos' power through it! So this way, he can take over Huntik without having to leave his base!"

Sophie smiled at her boyfriend.

"Lok, you're a genius!" she kissed him, forgetting, somewhat, the company they were in.

"Hey, runs in the family," he smiled at his father.

The knowledge slowly dawned upon the others, who had, up till this point, been watching and listening in silence.

"Since Dominator's a Swara-Titan," Den said, "the Professor's base should be in their region!"

"Right you are, boy," came a snarl that Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia and Eathon thought they'd never hear again.

A massive, imposing figure filled the mouth of the cave, casting a long shadow on the inhabitants, as the Jirwolves slunk to the back of it.

The Professor, Simon Judeau.

"Unfortunately, you won't live to ever use that information against me! Ripplebur-"

"Formbreak!" John cried hastily.

"-st!" the Professor cast the explosive spell into the cave.

The blue-purple energies dissipated the yellow bolt before it had journeyed far from the Professor's fingers. The resulting burst of energies scorched the rock walls of the cave, but not much else.

The Professor smiled cruelly, as though her were a vicious cat toying with its dying prey.

"Or perhaps death may be too merciful for you."

He turned around.

"Bring them out here!" he ordered one of his Titans behind him, but his form obscured their view of which one he had ordered to do so.

Now, this was an odd thing to do, given that, even if the Professor vacated the mouth of the cave (which he did not), it would still be considerable trouble for anything large or strong enough to carry out the entire team to enter the cave, while anything small enough to would likely meet an untimely demise at the hands of the numerically superior forces within.

But John pieced together the puzzle, realising what Lok, Sophie, Dante and Zhalia had failed to.

The magnitude of the realisation and its impact was immense. But given so little time between his realisation and the event that would reveal it to the rest of his teammates, all he could manage was a two-syllable utterance.

"Uh oh."

Suddenly, the mountain the team was seeking shelter within was reduced to dust in the wind.

Those who would have, under less pressing circumstances, queried John as to what his 'uh-oh' was for would have just received their answer.

The Professor stood before them, flanked by Behemoth, Araknos, Tao and…Overlos.

"Gaze upon Overlos, the Legendary Titan of Immortality, and tremble!" the Professor bellowed, the cheesy line suddenly so much more threatening in light of the situation.

Lok nearly turned hysterical.

"Overlos! The Professor has Overlos! How? HOW DID HE GET OVERLOS!?"

The Professor cackled maniacally.

"All of you are fools! Lok Lambert, Sophie Casterwill, Dante Vale, and my own little traitor Zhalia Moon, all fools! When you threw me into Huntik…"

"We didn't 'throw' you," Sophie protested. "We didn't know Araknos was going to do that! We tried to save you—"

"Silence, girl!" he boomed.

Sophie promptly shut up.

Dante, who had, up till this point, been watching the Professor pensively, his hands behind his back, attempting to formulate a plan, suddenly had something slipped into his hands.

He manipulated it in his hands, and realised what it was.

He understood immediately, giving as imperceptible a nod he could manage, while making sure his co-conspirator noticed.

The Professor continued, having missed this exchange.

"When I came into Huntik, it was with the three Legendary Titans, their rings, Overlos, and the Amulet of Will. I am bonded to these four Titans, the most powerful Titans in all Huntik. You only managed to defeat me because you took control of Overlos for a while. But after we were thrown into Huntik, the bond remained. I simply ordered Overlos to grant me true immortality."

(A/N Bet none of you ever realised that was what happened. I don't think even the creators did)

He paused for a moment, gloating over Lok as he fell to his knees, realisation sinking in, as Sophie and Eathon comforted him.

"You have failed, Lok Lambert. Your 'brilliant plan' only made it much easier for me to achieve mine."

"What was your plan, anyway? To cure yourself?" Dante said, curiously unaffected by Lok's plight.

The Professor laughed cruelly.

"Well, Mr. Vale. You pathetic weakling. You absolute moron. I can't believe it was so easy to trick you into giving me Tao and Behemoth! Did you honestly think I gave a second's thought to that fool Metz?"

Dante lowered his head.

"You used to."

"I have no need for friends, or mentors, or family! I control _everything_! I am _immortal_! _I am a god!_" he roared.

"And what do you intend to do with all this power?" Eathon asked sharply.

The Professor's insane grin grew wider.

"The handful of Titans that came to Earth decided the rise and fall of empires. The _army_ of Titans at my command shall bring the world to its knees! I will control _all_!"

The Seekers were suddenly chilled to the bone with the realisation of the scope of the Professor's plan. For a year and a half (A/N See footnote), the Professor had been building his empire in Huntik, preparing a massive army of Titans to invade and conquer the Earth. And, the unlikely event of his defeat at their hands notwithstanding, it was most probable that he would achieve that goal.

"But Simon…if you've been here all this while, then why didn't you attack me?"

The Professor's vicious smile crept upon his lips once more.

"Oh, there's a very simple reason why. I discovered the Blood Spirals too during my studies. I knew the boy would need your help to stop them from destroying what would soon be my new empire, so I let you go ahead and help him. Why waste my Titans when I can get you to do it for me?"

"But enough talk," he snarled. "It won't help you. Now that you and your friends have helped me stop the Blood Spirals, you will only hinder me."

"Araknos!"

The spider-like Titan strode forth.

"You know what to do," he said to the Titan, a vicious threat in his tone.

He turned to the team.

"Nothing you can do can save you now."

"I beg to differ!" Dante shouted, throwing the crystal that John had gave him into the air.

"Gatecleave!"

The by-now familiar swirling blue-black portal materialised before them.

"GO!" Dante shouted, as Araknos' spider-silk threads found themselves plunging into empty space.

The Professor's eyes widened in alarm as his foes rushed through the gate (and even the Jirwolves jumped through, with the one that Cherit shot barely being able to make it), escaping his carefully-laid-out trap.

Even Lok, still slightly incapacitated from the shock realisation of what he accidentally did, was propelled through by his girlfriend and father.

"No! NO! Come back here!" he screamed, helplessly impotent when faced with the collapse of his plan.

Or perhaps not so impotent.

"Overlos! Seal that gate!"

But someone else did it for him.

Moments after the last of his prey had escaped.

"NO!" the Professor screamed.

After about a quarter of a minute, his anger had abated sufficiently for him to resume regular mental ability.

"Eathon Lambert…Lok Lambert…Dante Vale…Sophie Casterwill…Zhalia Moon…YOU WILL NOT LEAVE HUNTIK ALIVE!"

* * *

"Gateclose!" John shouted, sealing the portal.

"Formbreak," he loosed the bond on this crystal, preventing the Professor from tracking them with the one Dante left behind.

"Great. Three gate crystals in less than twenty-four hours," he muttered under his breath. "They'll wring my neck for this."

"Is everyone alright?" Eathon looked around at the company of Seekers.

"Looks like everyone's here," Dante said.

"I…what did I do?" Lok asked bitterly.

Eathon laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You did what you thought was the best thing to do at the time, Lok. Most people, if they had control of Overlos, would have used his powers for their own selfish ends. You gave it up to keep mankind safe."

"And at any rate, you wouldn't really want to live forever," Cherit interjected, having had recovered from his exhaustion.

"I would know," he said, eyes glazing over somewhat (A/N See my short story _Ahasuerus_).

Eathon had, up till this point, not known of Cherit's presence.

"Cherit!" Eathon embraced his old friend.

"Hello, Eathon! It's been a while!"

But the two cut short their exchange and turned back to Lok, who still stared indecisively at his feet, still unconvinced of his innocence.

"Dad…Sophie…Dante…It's so hard to think that this isn't my fault. I mean, this isn't the _only_ time that I was tricked into thinking I was doing what was right, and then it turned out that it was much worse than the alternative. I mean, the Betrayer used _me_ to help open the Spiral Mark! And now, I stupidly let the Professor become immortal, _and_ have the four most powerful Titans in the world with him!"

Sophie kissed him on the cheek.

"Lok, darling, even when the Betrayer tricked you, we still managed to stop him from destroying the world! You may have got us into this mess, but I know you can get us out of it."

"Don't worry, Lok," Dante reassured his protégé. "We're all here for you, and for each other. The Professor must not be allowed to take over the world. It's too late to change what happened, but it's never too late to change what will."

Lok looked up, a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"You guys…really think so?"

"Yes," Lucas nodded, "really."

"Well," John continued fiddling with his Chronicler, "I've got a lock on the emitter of the spell. That's a start."

"The Professor's going down!" Den pumped his fist in the air, elicitng a small dose of laughter.

Lok smiled slightly.

"I guess you're right."

"Alright, come on!" Harrison cried. He was slowly transforming from an angry, hateful, fearful boy into a courageous, jovial and heroic young man.

"We've got a world to save!"

"Again," everyone said.

**A/N ****Once again, sorry for the delay. You know how it is, school and such.**

** But I've got the next two chapters planned. If you want to know what the plans in question are I advise you to check out this (paid) game called ****_A Valley Without Wind 2_****. That was a major inspiration for this little arc within the larger Second-Betrayer arc.**

**The period of time between the first and second seasons is about one and a half years, as I have mentioned. The relevant data is as follows:**

– **At the end of S1E24, Lok mentions how 'summer vacation's almost over' (Italy's summer vacation is from the second week of June until the first week of September).**

– **In S2E05, Lucas mentions that Sophie began to get involved with the Huntik Foundation 'last year'.**

– **The finale of Season 2 is on the 'longest night of the year' (Winter Solstice, near end of December in Northern Hemisphere). **

**Add one month to the December, and these events (in this fic) happen in late January or early February, one year and about four months after the end of the first, which I have rounded off to one and a half years.**

**As for Sophie's age, I got this from Lok's complaint about how he had been sitting behind her for two years and next to her for the duration of the year so far. This would mean she (with him) is in the third year of what Americans would probably call high school (it's somewhat different in Italy; consult Wikipedia; but that's the most likely age group for them). At this grade, they are at least 15 at the start of the year, and 16 at the end. Add a year and a half, and give the fact that Season 1 ends in September, and it's quite likely that Sophie and Lok are seventeen.**

**…so ****_that's_**** why they call me a nerd.**

**Also, just a note: in case anyone's worried about the lack of Zhante (I noticed that was one of the most favourably reviewed aspects of Chapter 1), it'll start picking up in a couple of chapters. This is an adventure-romance; the adventure gets done before the major romance/drama stuff (although there will still be a fair dose of adventure).**

******EDIT: OK, I tried asking nicely…**

**RAAAAAAAAARGHH! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7: First Strike

Chapter 7: First Strike

**A/N A couple of queries for my guest reviewers, in case you're dropping by again (thanks a lot, both you guys and the rest of the reviewers. Getting a kind word can really make someone's day, and fixing the problems you pointed out helps me assuage my perfectionism):**

**Guest (Chapter 4): I thought I translated all of it. I read through it and couldn't find any un-translated spots. Would you care to point them out?**

**LL PID 2348 (Chapter 6): I'll be the first to admit that this is one of the less-excellent chapters, since I didn't finish it all at one shot or over several days in a row, like I did the rest, hence I had to revise, edit and read through it more frequently to ensure consistency, and couldn't devote as much time and effort to keeping character. But I still thought it was quite OK. Where, specifically, did you have problems with the characterisation****?**

_Professor's Fortress  
Swara-Titan Region, Huntik  
A few hours later_

The Professor sat down heavily, back onto his throne.

_Soon, I will be the ruler of more than just these Titans._

The unexpected intrusion of Dante and his team had originally been a tactical bonus for him: if he had invaded Earth before rounding them up, they might have been able to organize a coherent resistance against him. Their appearance here had given him the opportunity to zero that possibility by enslaving them. Unfortunately, they brought friends, and they had just slipped straight through his fingers.

_Perhaps, instead of delivering themselves into my hands, they merely brought the resistance here._

His method of conquest was slow and tedious, and always meant that there would be pockets of resistance here and there. If the Seekers could work with these Titans, they would prove to be rather significant threats. He could no longer reliably track them like he had tracked Eathon; his scouts would be too easily noticed, and furthermore their motion could be dispersed and erratic. The original team had brought him down once, and one of the new Seekers had already deciphered the location of his fortress. They very likely had the intellectual capacity and combat ability to beat his system.

_All the more reason to make sure they cannot._

He opened his Holotome. He still kept the device he used as a Foundation Seeker, the very same one that had been reverse-engineered to create the Teknonomicons that the Organisation's suits used.

In the solitary silence of his throne room, the Professor worked for hours. His servants were incapable of speaking even if he willed them to, but the man had no need for them to do so: any information he needed that they possessed could be extracted with a thought.

_And soon, it will be the same for the rest of mankind. All will serve me. None will question. None will even need to speak. I have no desire to hear their pathetic voices at any rate._

_ Oh, and to think that my being cast into Huntik was a defeat! You have no idea how much you've expanded my plans, Lok Lambert!_

He chuckled darkly to himself, and then refocused the entirety of his vast intellect and will on the task at hand.

Finally, it was complete.

He turned to Overlos, by his side.

"Take this to them," he passed the Titan the Holotome.

"And tell them to work quickly."

* * *

_Gaia-Titan Region, Huntik_

John walked at the head of the group, as they trekked through the deceptively idyllic countryside of the Gaia-Titan territory.

He was walking in the general direction his Chronicler told him the signal was being emitted from, hoping to find whatever it was and find out what it did. Fortunately, they had not encountered any patrols of the Professor's Titans since their brush with the man himself.

The interactions of the team were far more muted now, all of them still somewhat afflicted by irrational anxiety that the Professor might step out from behind the next tree, so everyone kept their voices down and moved as quietly as possible so as to not "draw his attention".

Lok has regained some spirit after the crushing realisation that he might just have doomed the world. Rassimov had been a formidable opponent, and the Blood Spirals were widespread, their ranks filled with several extremely skilful Seekers. But now only Wind and Shauna were left. The Second Betrayer was a significant threat, but with that kind of power at the Professor's fingertips, he would easily crush them. Unless Lok and his team managed to defeat the Professor here and now, their only hope for freeing themselves from his grip would be the Greater Red Comet. Needless to say, resorting to that would be undesirable.

But, right now, though he had found his father, he was as much lost as the rest of the Seekers as to which course of action should be undertaken to stop the Professor.

They came to a small handful of stone structures that could conceivably have been some kind of housing. They had come across a few of these before, but for some reason, John now saw the reason the stop them here.

He gazed into his Chronicler.

"The readings are off the charts. I'm pretty sure whatever it is we're looking for is on the other side of this mountain," John explained.

"I'll need someone to go fly over and take a look. Lok?" he turned to him.

The boy pulled out Kipperin's amulet.

"I think Kipperin's ready."

"Good. Just do a quick fly-by, come back and tell me if you see anything unusual."

Cherit popped out of Lok's bag.

"What about me?"

Eathon bent down.

"Cherit, your wingspan's too small. You'd take too long," he patted his old friend's head.

"Oh. Right."

John turned back to his Chronicler.

"Judging by the readings, whatever it is that's emitting this signal would probably be large enough to see from up there."

Lok nodded.

"Let's go, KIPPERIN!"

The Titan enshrouded Lok in himself, and lifted the boy into the air, flapping his wings at his Seeker's telepathic commands.

"And what are we supposed to do?" Eathon asked.

"Rest," John said, a somewhat insane smile forming on his lips.

"You'll probably need it to deal with whatever's on the other side."

* * *

The team had sat within the structure for barely a few minutes before Lok swooped back in, returning with great haste.

He recalled Kipperin, and then started massaging his temples. Sophie noticed a few rivulets of sweat running down the sides of his face.

"Lok! What happened?" she cried, concerned, gently touching his face.

Unexpectedly, he convulsed somewhat violently at her touch, causing her to sharply withdraw her hand.

"…Lok?" she asked timidly.

He blinked and shook his head.

"Sophie, I…"

"What's on the other side?" she asked, as gently as possible.

"I…"

He bowed his head, and sucked in his breath.

"There's some kind of tower there. I don't know how it works, but I know…it… projects the Professor's influence."

"And…"

He lifted his head, gazing into Sophie's eyes with a kind of pleading weakness.

"The things it'll do to you…they're…it's…"

She gave him a reassuring hug, and then sat him down, gently patting his back and comforting him.

Dante frowned.

"If it's really that powerful…we're going to need someone with an iron will and a mastery of stealth. Someone familiar with all the dirty tricks the Professor will pull, who knows how to resist them…and to use them against him. Someone who can slip into an impenetrable fortress right under the noses of the guards…"

Zhalia soon realised everyone was looking at her.

But Dante's gaze was saturated with concern.

"Zhalia…are you sure you want to do this?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"I…know it's hard for you to see me go out to do something so dangerous…but you said it yourself. We all know I'm the best fit for this mission."

Dante sighed.

"Just…please, Zhalia…be careful," he kissed her quickly.

"I won't be able to forgive myself if you get hurt."

_Or worse, enslaved._

John stepped up.

"Gatebind!" he enchanted two of his warp crystals.

He handed her one of the two.

"Use Headcage on yourself," Dante said, his anxiety compelling him to remind her of the most basic and logical of steps.

"And when you get to the top of the tower, activate the crystal and call Eathon," he handed her his Holotome.

She nodded.

"And please," he begged her, gazing fervently, tenderly, fearfully into her eyes, "please, if you think you'll get hurt, use the crystal, Zhalia."

"I will," she reassured her fiancé, tears in her own eyes.

"I can't let them take you away from me. Not after all we went through. Not after all we've become," he said, showing uncharacteristic softness.

She nodded again, and kissed him deeply.

"I love you," she said tenderly, and headed out.

Dante watched as the form of his fiancée grew smaller and more distant, before disappearing around the mountain.

He sighed.

"I love you too."

* * *

"Thoughtspectre!" Zhalia hissed, turning herself invisible as yet another Dominator-led patrol of two Lindorms and five Feyones passed her.

She let the spell dissipate as soon as she was sure she was out of sight. She had been trying to conserve her energy as much as possible, exhausted as she was from the events of the past few hours, starting all the way from the engagement in the crystal caves.

_When can I get some decent rest?_

And then, a few seconds later, her foremost thoughts were once more occupied by those of Dante.

How he had always been so sweet and tender to her. Not the kind of childish saccharine affection that Lok and Sophie shared, but a kind of rugged, heroic tenderness, even though she had been practically trying to kill him not too long ago.

How he had so readily forgiven her betrayal.

How he had just practically shed tears over her safety, barely having been able to let go of her enough to consent to her undertaking this mission. And all this, in spite of the whole double-agent thing.

All that these things told her was the simple truth that he loved her, and for that she was infinitely glad. But beneath it all, she knew there was something more. She was happy that he loved her, because she herself was hopelessly, madly, irrationally in love with _him_. Not his looks, or his strength, or his skill, or his brilliance…just…him.

_I want to _be _with _him.

_ I _love him_._

And love needs no reason.

She was very lucky, she supposed, to have fallen in love with someone so attractive, kind, sweet, tender and devoted to her.

_I love you, Dante Vale._

It was a thought that crossed her mind often.

(A/N Contrast this to the scene in S1E02 where Sophie is discussing Dante with LeBlanche)

* * *

The other Seekers, who rested in the little structure they had found, either spoke quietly amongst themselves, as Lok, Sophie and Eathon did, or slumbered lightly, as John and Kevin did.

"What happened, Lok?" Sophie asked him gently.

He sighed heavily, and looked at his girlfriend and father.

"The Professor's…OK, at first it was just a bit of a headache. Then I realised that it got worse when I went closer to that large black…thing. So I flew closer to check it out, and then…it's like my brain slowly stopped working. As I got closer, I grew…weaker. Suddenly, it was really difficult to move this arm, or that leg, and it got worse as I got closer."

"And then, I started…forgetting things, and that's when I realised what was going on. The Professor was trying to control my mind, Sophie," he gazed into her eyes, pain radiating from his own.

"He couldn't touch my heart, but he was wrestling my mind and body away from it."

"The worst part was…I started to forget…who…who you were. I could still feel those feelings…sort of…but when I tried to think of what caused them, I couldn't remember your name…the picture of you in my head had huge gaps in it…he was trying to take you away from me, Sophie. To take _me_ away from _me_. Everything I cared about, you, Dad, Mum…the same thing happened to them, too…"

He gazed downwards, as Sophie gently raised his chin.

"You really love me."

It was a statement, not a question.

A tautological one.

She leaned in and kissed him.

Eathon, silent up till now, stood up.

"Don't worry, son. You're safe here."

"But we'll have to go back soon," Lok said.

"Then use smash whatever it is that did that. For Sophie. For your mother. For me. For yourself."

Lok looked up, and dried the tears he hadn't noticed forming.

"Alright, Dad."

* * *

Zhalia's journey to the foot of the tower proceeded without incident on either her side or Dante's, except for the inflammation of passion that the he had generated in her, and the burning anxiety he felt for her safety.

Zhalia, in spite of her Headcage spell, and even at this distance, could feel the Professor's influence, snaking into the cracks, widening the fissures, trying to establish a foothold in her mind. The spell was strong, but so was Araknos, the will of the Professor, and whatever magic that was projecting it. Currently it was little more than a mental itch, but Zhalia was unsure as to how quickly it would gain in strength.

The Professor's external patrols of Titans around the tower, although strictly, rigidly periodic, had been well-designed: it was frequently a test of endurance for Zhalia to keep her invisibility long enough to pass between safe spots. But she made it to the tower without alarming anyone nonetheless.

The tower itself was a peculiar structure. From a distance, it would have resembled little more than a black cylinder. But up close, one would realise that the pitch-black constituents of the tower somewhat resembled a cross between concrete and steel: cold, rough, hard, unfeeling, lifeless.

However, the complete blackness of the structure provided no clue as to any point of entry. Their purposes would still be served by the destruction of the tower, but trying to destroy it by brute assault would not merely be inelegant, but also strategically moronic. Not to mention that they would lose any information whatsoever stored that they could otherwise have garnered from the tower. And gathering as much information as they could was a priority for the Seekers, with them being in this strange world ruled by a man who was supposed to be dead.

Zhalia slowly walked around the tower, running her hands around it. Over the years, all Seekers developed a kind of sense for magic, not unlike that which was inborn in members of the Casterwill family. Of course, this acquired sense was far weaker than that of the Casterwills, but Zhalia had trained long enough to know on contact if an object was enchanted (as long as it was at least a moderate-strength enchantment).

And she was surprised to find that the tower was not.

The black walls were as lifeless as they looked.

Zhalia frowned as she continued around the tower. Why wouldn't the Professor enchant such an installation? Not even a moderate-strength hardening spell?

But suddenly, she picked up the characteristic tingle of magic.

And then her eyes widened as she stumbled forward, seemingly crashing into the wall of the tower.

Zhalia's concentration almost broke, but Dante's assessment of her proved accurate: her iron will enabled her to maintain her illusion through the shock of feeling for the wall and finding nothing.

She slowly got to her feet, and moved deeper into the darkness, intensely curious.

But she quickly remembered the promise she made to Dante, and pulled out the warp crystal, ready to jump to safety the moment any serious threat arose. She didn't want to risk breaking Dante's heart.

Once more, she was seized upon by the realisation of how much he truly loved her; that he had seemed to fear death more than letting harm befall her.

She ventured forth into the mysterious darkness.

She took only a few stops before emerging in a decently-lit circular area. Magical lights were mounted on the walls, and there was a staircase conforming to the curve of the building's wall along a semi-circular arc.

And, of course, Titans mulled about within. There was an Undergolem standing silently in the centre of the room, with a handful of Dominators sitting around and some Gaia-Titans walking up and down the staircase, and others just walking about the room.

There were a lot of them, but none of them looked like they actually had anything to do. So, as Zhalia slipped past the guards and ascended the staircase, she realised the challenges posed by this situation resembled those posed by having to make one's way through a crowded shopping mall more than it did those posed by other stealth missions she had undertaken.

The next floor looked pretty much the same as the previous one, Titans all around, an Undergolem in the centre, and so forth. She slipped past them in a similar fashion and climbed to the next floor.

As Zhalia ascended the tower (a remarkably easy task, given how infested with hostiles it was, excluding the mental endurance required to continuously project the illusion of her invisibility), the little, nagging mental itch caused by the Professor's influence seemed to double in intensity with every step. It was currently a mild migraine. The Professor chafed against her will, trying to pry open a wide enough crack in her Headcage to attack her mind directly.

Exhausted as she was, she poured a surge of willpower into the spell, sealing said cracks.

Whatever it was that was projecting his power was at the top of this tower. She was sure of it.

Zhalia climbed yet another storey, the nausea, unease, weakness and pain beginning to overwhelm her mental shield faster than she could repair it. And she saw, as her eyes peeked above the floor of the next level, rays of dark, ominous, blood-red light.

Her Headcage almost disintegrated entirely.

She shut down her illusion spell in order to free up enough energy to buttress her shield enough to prevent her mind from being taken over by the Professor, and fled down the steps.

She reactivated her illusion spell before being spotted, and lay, heavily panting, against the wall, slowly recuperating and readjusting her distributions of willpower between repairing the Headcage and maintaining the Thoughtspectre.

She pulled out Dante's Holotome, and extended the illusion to enable her to use it.

"Eathon?"

* * *

"ZHALIA!" Dante cried, grabbing the Holotome from Eathon.

He did not object.

"Dante!" she cried, smiling.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worried.

"I'll…be alright," she said.

"What happened?"

"I…found out the hard way, the thing projecting the Professor's will is up this staircase. It's…really strong; boost up a Headcage to maximum power before jumping in."

"I'm going to need to analyse that thing," John butted in from the side.

"I don't even have enough power to cloak myself much longer; so the rest of you hold them off while John does what he needs to do."

"'Them'?" Dante queried.

"Oh, I forgot to mention the Titans."

Dante sighed heavily.

"Hang in there, Zhalia. I'm coming."

She nodded.

"Gatecleave!" she opened the portal.

And then the transmission ended.

Sophie flexed her fingers.

"Zhalia isn't the best teacher, but I think I've got this figured out."

She took a deep breath.

"Legionspell! (A/N New power)"

Her hands glowed red and golden.

"Headcage!"

A wave of Sophie's power washed over the entire company of Seekers, and their heads glowed briefly with green auras.

Sophie staggered a bit, exhausted from the effort of casting the mass spell.

"Sophie!"

Lok caught her as she almost stumbled over a rock.

He had largely recovered from the trauma of flying through the Professor's mind-control field.

He gently laid her down in a comfy corner of the structure they were in.

"Stay here, and stay safe. I'll be back soon."

"Be careful," she whispered weakly.

He kissed her forehead.

"I will."

They smiled tenderly at each other.

"Come on," Dante yanked his wrist, clearly extremely uncharacteristically anxious (A/N To those worried about the number of times I've used the adjective "uncharacteristically" [and variants], four words: "Love makes you crazy").

"Alright. Cherit, take care of Sophie," Lok said.

"Aye aye, captain!" Cherit mock-saluted.

John produced his crystal.

"Gatecleave!"

* * *

"Doublespell! Poisonfang!"

Zhalia bathed the hostile Titans both above and below her on the stairs in thick green venom, as she heard loud thumping sounds coming from the next floor.

But before she could even glance over to investigate, the pulsating circle of swirling blue-black energies behind her changed the frequency of its humming.

She had used these portals enough to know how they worked.

_They're coming._

And she suddenly realised the significance of that observation.

"Zhalai!" Dante cried jumping through.

One of the Feyones lower down the staircase, that Zhalia had blasted, got to its feet.

Dante intercepted it with a Kindlestrike, and then turned to kiss his fiancée briefly.

"Are you alright?" he asked, the concern in his eyes and tone melting her.

"Yeah," she smiled slightly.

"I'm alright."

She hesitated briefly before adding, "Now that you're here with me."

Any further interaction was barred by the enemy redoubling their efforts, even as the rest of the Seekers poured in.

John didn't need to take one step further up the stairs to realise that the projector of the Professor's power here was on the next floor.

He flipped open his Chronicler, deploying its long-range scanner.

"Alright, cover me while I scan this thing!"

Lok and John ran up the staircase, with Kevin trailing behind, and crouched down a few steps beneath the thing. They had just gotten here, and already they could feel Sophie's Headcages unravelling.

Lok turned back briefly to issue orders to the other Seekers, as Gaia-Titans and Dominators attacked them from above.

"The rest of you can focus on those down the-WHOA!"

John, Kevin and Lok stumbled back down the stairs as the source of the thumping Zhalia was about to investigate made itself known.

The presence of Undergolems, it would seem, had been standardised on every floor.

Even the top one.

And the one beneath it, it would seem, as an Undergolem approached from the bottom of the staircase too, with growing shadows indicating the approach of the others.

"Come on, come on…" John muttered, fiddling with his device, as data from his scans poured in.

"Rippleburst!" Kevin slammed the Undergolem back, dazing it momentarily.

The others rained spells on the Titans advancing from beneath (including the Undergolem), but they came weakly; the exhaustion bogging the Seekers down heavily.

The Undergolem from the floors below crumpled under the sheer volume of spells from the Seekers, but already the spells were fading in power. The stairs were littered with collapsed Gaia-Titans and their Dominator "officers", but they still kept coming. Zhalia was pretty sure that the Titans on the other floors were rushing up to attack them as well.

John finally started to make sense of the data, as Lok and Kevin warded off the attackers from above with Touchrams, Overslams and Ripplebursts.

"This thing is some sort of magical construct…it's an extremely powerful amplifier, and it looks like it was…manufactured…"

"But what does it do?" Kevin asked frantically, dodging a blow from the Undergolem.

"It relays and amplifies the will of the Professor and the power of Araknos! It projects the field that the conduit enchantments on Dominator's spikes channel! And even without that, being too close to it will allow the Professor to control your mind directly!"

"John!" Dante shouted, casting a weak Boltflare at an approaching Dominator.

"Hurry…up!" he panted heavily (an unusual sight, given his competency and fitness level).

"I—" John began, but Kevin tapped his shoulder and pointed at Lok.

Lok stood up, steel in his eyes, as he glared straight at the blood-red and black mass casting that dreadful dim glow through the room, and the Professor's influence through the whole region.

_ I won't let Sophie down. Or Dad. Or Mum. Or _anyone_!_

"Bladecall!" he shouted, as he ran towards the amplifier, dodging the strikes and shots of the hostile Titans.

"LOK!" John screamed.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU—"

Then, as the rest of the Seekers battled the tide of Titans from beneath, a lucky shot from a Feyone crumpled Zhalia to the ground.

"ZHALIA!" Dante screamed, loosing an unusually powerful Kindlestrike which incapacitated the offending Feyone.

He fell to his knees and took her hands.

"Zhalia, are you alr—AAARGH!"

"Dante!" Zhalia gasped in alarm.

It was now his turn to crumple to the ground, a cluster of spikes protruding from his back, and a leering Dominator behind him.

Zhalia's eyes radiated venom as she forced herself to her feet.

"TOUCHRAM!" she screamed, blasting the Titan into the wall and reducing him to a crumpled heap.

She crouched down by her fiancé's side.

The spikes began to glow reddish.

"No!" she cried.

She could feel the field, projected by the amplifier just a dozen metres away or so, shifting, pouring its dark energies into the spikes, all the way, she knew, to his mind.

But then, someone screamed.

"YAAAAARGH!"

Lok got to his feet, ran to the top of the stairs, putting him direct in the line of sight of the amplifier, and rushed at it, Willblade in hand. His Headcage crumbled at once, leaving him vulnerable to the Professor's mental assault.

The few brief moments where his naked will was exposed to the influence of the Professor felt more like nightmarish hours. None of this was alien to him, but the intensity and ferocity was unexpected, and nearly overwhelmed him. Lok fought the Professor, but with the magic amplifier and Araknos on his side, there was absolutely no way Lok could resist his already superior will.

It was as though his mind itself started ablating into oblivion, the outer layers peeling away and crumbling into nothing, as he found himself less and less aware and less and less in control of his actions. Memories evaporated and parts of his body simply stopped responding as the will of the Professor and the power of Araknos savaged his mind and body, attempting to divorce Lok's own will from them.

But he resisted.

Everything he cared about, everyone he loved, all those sentiments, bound together a tight core of his mind. Sophie, the girl of his dreams, the love of his life, his girlfriend, his baby, and soon, hopefully, his wife. His father and mother. His friends, Dante, Zhalia, Den, even Harrison. All these feelings were all that kept his soul anchored to his mind and body.

The Professor's will pushed against this core, seeking to expunge everything personal to Lok from it, every last trace of him, so as to dominate his mind utterly. But this core repelled each one of the Professor's assaults.

And this core retained enough motor control to propel Lok and the Willblade towards the amplifier, through the haze of red light, past the attacks of the Titans, and for him to stab the blade right into the amplifier.

Even as the amplifier, and the whole room, suddenly started trembling violently, a great relief washed over the Seekers. The Titans were less aggressive. Some even stopped moving entirely. The reddish glow on the spikes in Dante ceased. And everyone felt the Professor's malevolence slowly departing the insides of their heads, with Lok experiencing this most acutely.

"No!" John screamed again.

"Lok, that thing is unstable! There's no telling how big an explosion it'll cause! I'm not even sure we can leave the build—"

Lok pointed at the portal and smirked.

John blinked.

"Oh. Right."

Lok turned to the rest of the team.

"GUYS! GO BACK THROUGH THE PORTAL! THIS WHOLE THING'S ABOUT TO EXPLODE!"

Zhalia helped Dante to his feet, as the others scrambled through the portal, while casting a few parting shots at their opponents.

Dante, with the Professor's dark power no longer coursing through him, easily recovered. He guided Zhalia through the portal first, blasted down a Dominator, and finally jumped through himself.

Zhalia collapsed against the wall, exhausted, as John shut the portal.

The rest of the Seekers were similarly posed, debilitated by fatigue, although Lok and Sophie and Den and Viviane were celebratorily making out with their respective love interests.

Off in the distance, the Seekers heard the satisfying sound of tower exploding into smithereens.

"Ow…" Dante rubbed his back, wincing as his fingers ran over the spikes embedded in the flesh.

Zhalia sprang to her feet, her own exhaustion forgotten.

"Lie down, Dante. I'll fix this."

Dante, too injured to argue or even analyse, complied.

Sophie broke away from her boyfriend.

"Zhalia, are you sure—"

She was silenced with a venomous glare, and gladly returned to lavishing her attention upon Lok.

Eathon tried not to look.

The stab wounds were somewhat deep, but it was nothing that couldn't be patched up with a quick Everfight. However, the presence of the spikes posed an obstacle.

Thus, Zhalia slowly extracted each one of them, taking care not to worsen the injuries. It was unlikely that she would cause any damage that couldn't be healed by magic, but she wouldn't want to cause an iota more of hurt to her fiancé.

She completed this task without much incident, and Dante finished up with Everfight, and got to his feet.

"Thanks, Zhalia," he smiled at her.

"No problem," she smiled back.

"Anything for you."

She was getting used to saying romantic things to her fiancé too, instead of it being a unilateral thing, from him to her.

"Hate to cut the romance short," Eathon said, drawing the attention of Dante, Zhalia, and the two "involved" couples, as well as everyone else in the room.

"But we need to think of what to do next."

"That amplifier was manufactured. It may be from a central manufactory which also constructs the buildings. So we just have to wait for the Professor's forces to come by to rebuild it. I have a spell that can trace the history of an object, a person…or a Titan. If we could capture a Titan, or even some building material, I can find out where it came from."

"But isn't it dangerous to stay here? I mean, the Professor knows we're here now, right? Won't he come looking for us?" Lok asked.

"Not quite," Dante smirked, some of the old pride and smugness coming back after his injury.

"You see, that's exactly what the Professor will think. He'll think we've gone on somewhere else. And with that portal, 'somewhere else' could be anywhere in Huntik. We don't have much of a reason to stay, and every reason to get as far from our last known position as possible, right?"

Lok frowned, nodding slowly.

"Well…I guess…"

"Well then," Eathon said, "it's settled. We'll wait here until the Professor sends Titans to rebuild. Don't worry; this is Gaia-Titan territory. There's plenty of food to go around."

Lane yawned. "At least we'll finally get some time to rest and restore our powers."

"OK, let's get to work," John clapped his hands.

"We're going to need food, blankets, some way of keeping watch on the tower ruins, and after that, maybe mattresses…"

_To be continued..._

**A/N Sorry for the delay, guys. Let's just say that people don't appreciate Android developers enough. And that bread and water don't give a lot of energy.**

** RAAAAARGH REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

** …Sorry.**

** I'll try not to make the next one take so long. And if you're wondering why this one is so short, this was supposed to be the average length.**


	8. Chapter 8: The Tower of Babel

Chapter 8: The Tower of Babel

_Gaia-Titan Region, Huntik  
Two days later_

"Lok! Eathon! Wake up!" Cherit shrieked, flapping around the room.

Eathon shot up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Cherit! What's going on?"

Lok yawned as he got to his feet, slowly and leisurely.

"What's up, Cherit?"

"They're here! THEY'RE HERE!"

The rest of the Seekers got up.

Cherit pointed at the orb of magic that John had constructed. It served as a video screen for another orb that watched over the ruins of the tower.

Dominators herded a pack of odd-looking Titans, which pushed carts full of stone. The strange Titans were lime-green, hunched-over reptilians with bent-back legs, with spikes parallel to their forearms protruding from their elbows, lobed, shelled, heads, red eyes, long fangs and claws, frothing at the mouth and in a constant, beastly frenzy, wielding a kind of multi-purpose tool: hatchet, pickaxe, and hammer all rolled into one.

Dante frowned as he produced his Holotome.

"I think I've encountered these Titans before. They're called…hmmm…Droneslaves (A/N New Titan)."

"Droneslave," came the Holotome.

"Attack: 3. Defence: 1. Type: Swara-Titan Scout. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Endurance. Free Summon."

"Droneslaves are normally used for hard manual labour. They are incredibly strong and agile, very easy to summon, and _never_ get tired. But they can't take much damage. They're a bit like glass: hard, but brittle," Dante explained.

"OK," John said.

"All we need is to knock one of them out and drag him back here. Then I'll trace its history and we can find out where those materials are coming from."

Zhalia smirked.

"No problem."

* * *

Zhalia returned shortly after, and dropped the unconscious reptilian Titan on the ground.

"OK, I got your lizard. Now what?"

Dante blinked.

"That was fast."

She smirked confidently again, placing a hand on her hip.

"Well, I'm good. What can I say?"

She walked up to Dante and gave him a kiss.

"Well, actually, not _that _good," she said quietly, so that only Dante could hear her. "But when I think about you…"

Eathon cleared his throat.

The two joined the others in a circle around the unconscious Titan.

John took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Loresight," he laid his hands on the Titan.

The boy's hands and eyes glowed a brilliant, silvery-turquoise.

John felt himself living the life of the Titan, except in reverse at high speed.

The Titan had been pushing a cart for two days without stopping. John traced this journey backwards in time, over several regions, as the sun slowly rose and set (or set and rose; he was seeing everything backwards), until he found himself (or rather, the Titan) forging components in a massive factory.

He stopped the "playback", and looked around.

He spied a few Kilthanes standing guard.

"Draco-Titans," he noted.

He "rewound", this time going slower, and confirmed the location of the factory.

John lifted his hands, and the glow faded.

"There is a manufactory, and it's in the Draco-Titan Region."

Dante nodded.

"Well then, Seekers, we have a mission," he smiled.

* * *

_Draco-Titan Region, Huntik  
A few days later_

The Seekers arrived in the Draco-Titan Region with little incident. They had encountered several incidences of Titan resistances battling the Professor's Titans, and assisted when they did, but they didn't go out of their way to find them.

"OK, we're here," Dante said.

"So…where, exactly, _is_ this factory, John?" Lucas asked.

"I know where it is, but I don't think the Professor would be foolish enough to just let anyone walk into the facility. I saw guards, traps, watchtowers, and turrets, but I doubt the Professor would have constrained his defences of such a vital facility to the visible alone. We're going to need as much intel on this thing as possible."

"So we'll need to find some resistance Titans, yes?" Sophie queried.

"Precisely."

"But how?" Harrison asked.

"Simple," Lok said.

"Find the fighting."

* * *

"Well, that wasn't hard," Kevin quipped.

The Seekers had walked for barely an hour before they crested a hill and encountered a small, embattled company of Albions, under attack by legions of Freelancers and Dullahans, commanded by Dominators (which revealed their allegiance). From behind the Albions, a handful of Blackfriars rained devastation upon the Freelancers and Dullahans, while Cursed Archers and Sorcerells on both sides fired on each other.

Amidst the Albions, there floated a handful of strange Titans: they consisted entirely of a pure white hood, with mysterious runes floating around it, and an attached cloak. The cloak, however, covered nothing; it just hung there. From time to time, the Titans would be facing the right direction for the Seekers to catch a glimpse of the cold blue eyes within the black void enshrouded by the hood. They could feel its icy gaze boring into their souls. Now and then, one of them would project twin blue beams from its eyes, which would rejuvenate and restore one of the fallen Albions.

John snapped his fingers.

"They're called…Whitesouls (A/N New Titan)."

Eathon pulled out his Holotome.

"Whitesoul," it intoned.

"Attack: 2. Defence: 2. Type: Draco-Titan Enchanter. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Healing Beams."

Above the Freelancers and Dullahans, there hovered a Nordrake, blasting the defenders with frost, occasionally swooping in to sweep a few of them with its tail, or to strike with its claws and teeth.

But above the Albions, there hovered a far more disturbing sight.

The black garment that the Titan wrapped around his body was more a rag than a robe, tattered and torn as it was. His visage was white, but had the consistency of a rock, and his hands were similarly textured. But the disturbing thing was, despite there being nothing underneath the tears in the robe, beneath it, where there should have been legs, there was, instead, a column of bright orange flame, which seemed to keep the Titan aloft.

The Titan would cast orbs of purple and black miasma at the Dullahans and Freelancers, smiting them, or would occasionally launch a serpent of miasma into the midst of its foes, which would slither through them, sending any Titan it contacted flying.

"What on earth is that thing?" Dellix exclaimed.

John searched his memory.

"That's Nullord (A/N New Titan). A powerful force in both the war against the Nullifiers, and amongst humans. They are extremely independent, cunning, sly and manipulative, very often turning on their Seekers. They essentially turn the power of the Nullifiers against them through their miasma magic, which partially incorporates the power of chaos. This integration of chaos into their essence has made them rebellious, selfish and susceptible to corruption. And they are also capable users of mental magic. They were used to bring down tyrants as frequently as they were to install them."

Eathon entered the name into his Holotome.

"Nullord. Attack: 6. Defence: 4. Type: Draco-Titan Sorcerer. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Miasma Magic. Mental Magic. Miasma Lance. Vampiric Touch."

"In this case," John continued, "it seems that it suits this Nullord's purposes to oppose the Professor, and he has gathered a quite a sizable force with which to do so."

The Seekers watched as the Professor's forces pushed the resistance into an area bounded by a bend in a nearby river. They formed a line, cutting the resistance off.

"They're forcing them into the river!" Dante cried.

"It doesn't look too deep," John mused.

"Hey, John," Den asked, "that Titan you used…Seashadow, was it? He's a Draco-Titan, right?"

John gasped.

"Of course! The Seashadows will hit them from behind, and that will be the end of them!"

"We have to help them!" Lane cried.

"But how?" Harrison asked.

Dante smiled.

"I have a plan."

* * *

The Seekers hurried down the hill and lined up along the bend in the river that the Nullord's forces were slowly but steadily being pushed back into.

The moment the Nullord's forces reached the river, the Seashadows that Den had inferred were lying in wait lunged into the air.

But the Seekers were ready.

"Ropetrick!"

They lassoed the Titans, reeled them in, and incapacitated them.

John, who had, unlike some of the others, captured only one Seashadow, wrapped an arm around his captive's abdomen, and another around his neck.

"Ha! Brilliant!"

But his distraction would prove to be a near-fatal mistake.

The Seashadow, in a burst of force, easily overpowered the Seeker.

"John!" Kevin cried.

John stumbled back, as the Seashadow whirled about to face him.

"I'll take care of myself! Go help the Nullord!" John ordered, while keeping his eyes fixed on his opponent.

Reluctantly, his brother bounded over the river with a Hyperstride, as did the rest of the Seekers.

Nordrake, realising that their plan had failed, swooped down towards Nullord, who sprayed miasma at it in a short-ranged cone, much like a shotgun blast, dazing him momentarily.

Nullord then put his hands close together, gathering dark energies into an orb.

And as soon as Nordrake had recovered from the shock of the blast, Nullord sent a lance of miasma straight into it, blasting it into its forces and out of commission.

Meanwhile, the Seashadow lunged at John.

The latter's eyes widened in fear.

"Flowrun!" he blurted out, barely avoiding impalement with a fluid dodge.

He almost summoned a Titan, but then he remembered that he needed to save as many of them as possible for the battle that was about to come.

Seashadow was an excellent swordsman, and even John's magical agility and fluidity could barely keep up with him.

_This spell isn't going to last forever. We're going to need a more permanent solution._

"Spellparry!" he deflected the next swipe.

This unexpected move caught the Titan off guard.

But before he could react, John stepped forward, beating his instincts (which told him it was a bad idea to go towards a man with a sword trying to kill him) into submission, and placed his hand on his opponent's forehead.

"Darksleep."

The Titan crumpled to the ground, the sword falling out of his hand.

John grabbed the weapon.

"I'll be taking that," he said, as he removed the belt around the Titan's waist, which had a scabbard attached, and put it around his, then sheathed his new weapon.

The Professor's forces realised that theirs was a lost cause, and a few began fleeing. The continued assault of the resistance forces and the Seekers drove them routed the rest.

John rejoined his companions.

Nullord lowered itself back onto the ground.

"_Thank you for your assistance._"

The Seekers blinked.

"You heard that, right?" Harrison asked his brother.

"_There is no cause for alarm. An adept in the ways of the mind such as myself can easily project his thoughts into your minds. But worry not; visiting injury upon you does not advance our purposes,_" the voice echoed within the minds of the Seekers.

Eathon stepped forward.

"We heard that there may be a factory here, which the…master of your opponents uses."

"_Indeed,_" Nullord nodded.

"_About half a day's journey, in that direction. But be wary; the factory is practically a fortress, and defended by armies of Titans, led by one of my kind. The walls prevent teleportation in or out. And, somewhere within, there is something which projects an exceptionally powerful mind-control field._ "

"So, how can we enter the factory without having our minds controlled?" Lucas asked.

"_There is a miasma enchantment that is capable of nullifying the mental magic that the field uses. But it lasts for about a day, so be hasty about your business._"

The Nullord extended its hands, and waves of purple and black washed over the Seekers, and they were flooded with relief, as the tension caused by the Professor's constant attempts to enter their minds dissipated.

"_Go now. And do not let my blessing go to waste. It has cost a significant fraction of my power._"

"Wait," Den said, "if you guys can do that, then what happened to the Nullord in charge of the factory?"

"_We…don't know. He controlled the region that they first struck. All that we know is, after the dust had settled, he was a loyal servant of the enemy._"

"One more thing," John stepped up.

"Gatebind!"

John cast one of the crystals forward.

"Gatecleave!"

The portal blinked into existence.

"We may need this to escape. If we could ask another favour…"

The Nullord seemed to frown.

"_Fair enough. We shall wait here for a day, and defend this site. Now go._"

They complied.

* * *

Lok, Dante and Cherit peeked out from behind a rock.

Before them stood a wooden palisade, with regularly spaced watchtowers. In the middle, close to where they were, was a gate, flanked by two Ferric Warbringers: big, burly Titans, covered in spiky armour and wielding pole-axes.

The gates were open, but there was no question of what would happen to the Seekers if they should attempt entry.

Beyond, there was a sort of town, except that it was quite clear that the buildings were no longer occupied. Cursed Archers stood guard atop the roofs, and shadowy figures flitted between them, pausing barely long enough for Dante to get a good look at one of them. The Titan was an average-sized, hooded humanoid wearing a black duster (A/N this is a coat like Dante's), plated in armour, over a black suit. He had a bandolier of knives strapped across his chest, and brandished a metal sabre.

In the streets, Janus Knights, each wielding two massive broadswords, galloped about on their steeds, and Dominators, Freelancers, Invisible Knights, suits of armour without occupants, and Kilthanes patrolled them.

And all the way at the back was a thick stone wall, with more Titans on the ramparts and machineguns, spotlights, missiles and cannons on the towers.

"Did you see all those Titans?" Lok gasped, as they turned back to the others.

"Aye, there must be at least a few _thousand_!" Cherit cried.

"And that's not even counting the ones on the inside!" Dante said, genuinely worried for once.

He pulled out his Holotome.

"I got a glimpse of those things on the rooftops."

"Darkstrider. Attack: 4. Defence: 2. Type: Draco-Titan Assassin. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Dash. Evade. Nightmare Gaze."

"There's no way we can get through two layers of walls. Did you see how many guard towers there were just on the _outer_ wall?" Lok said.

John frowned and thought for a bit.

"Well, Nullord said that the walls of the factory blocked teleports, right?"

"Yeah…"

John clasped two more crystals together.

"Gatebind!"

He passed one of them to Zhalia, who turned to Dante.

Dante nodded. "Stay safe," he kissed her quickly.

"Thoughtspectre!" she vanished.

"Gatecleave!" John threw down his crystal.

The Seekers, particularly Dante, watched with bated breath.

The humming of the portal changed frequency.

They looked at each other.

"Let's go!" said Eathon.

* * *

Zhalia, having hidden himself (and the portal she conjured) in a conveniently located corner, watched as hers teammates jumped through one by one, her gaze flitting between the portal was and the four Ferric Warbringers standing guard before the main gate to the facility itself.

They scrutinised the structure before them.

Finally, Kevin, the last of the group, jumped through.

They had managed to avoid alerting any of the guards. For now.

Zhalia heaved a sigh of relief as she closed the portal.

Lok looked around.

"Looks like there's no easy way in."

"Not quite," Dante smiled, pointing at one of the open windows on the building.

"Alright, Zhalia, cloak everyone with Thoughtspectre. Then each of us will use Hyperstride, and go through that window, one at a time," Eathon said.

"What about me?" Cherit asked.

Zhalia scooped him up in her arms.

"Thoughtspectre!"

The Seekers (and Cherit) vanished from sight.

"Hyperstride!" Zhalia called, bounding into the air, through the window, and landing with a roll (Cherit muttered a vague complaint).

She got up, only to find a Titan, wearing a red robe with a black hood (with two orange ember-like eyes in the darkness within) and cloak, all of which were inscribed with runes, reaching for the something on a shelf against one of the walls of the room she had landed in, oblivious to the presence of the Seekers hidden by Zhalia's power.

She easily dispatched it with a Darksleep.

Viviane came in next. She looked around.

"Are we in some sort of storeroom?"

"Yes, it looks like it," Lane said, getting up from her roll.

"Good," said Lucas. "This'll give us time to plan."

Dante landed next.

"What have we here?" he scanned the Titan that Zhalia had knocked out with his Holotome.

"Magemason. Attack: 2. Defence: 1. Type: Draco-Titan Enchanter. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Mageforge."

"This must be how the Professor constructs the magical components," Dante mused, as the other Seekers jumped in.

Kevin got up, and looked around.

An open crate of sparkly objects caught his eyes.

He leaned in close.

_Zero Crystals_, the box was labelled.

He began shovelling them into his pockets.

Dante cast him a questioning glance.

"What? Can't pass up free loot."

Finally, John jumped through, rolled, and got up.

"Right, that's everyone. Now I realised something. The amplifier back in the tower was very unstable, and the amplifier here is probably a more powerful version of it. But I don't think increasing its power reduces its volatility. If we want to stop them from producing any more things, we can easily create a huge explosion by hitting it."

"I suppose…but how are we to find it? We can't sense its influence, not with these shields that Nullord gave us," Sophie said.

"Indeed. And tampering with chaos magic is a very bad idea. But, you forget," John smiled.

"Chronocall!"

"I still have an emulator of the conduit enchantment from those Titans that attacked us," he said, as he worked at the device.

"Got it! Wow, the signal's strong."

But then, all present heard the clanking of metal outside the door.

The Seekers fell silent, as the clanking slowly grew louder, and then faded away.

Lok eased open the door, and looked around.

"Probably Invisible Knights," Lucas suggested.

"We'd better move quickly and quietly if we want to avoid those patrols," Eathon said.

"Don't worry," Zhalia said.

"I'll use a Thoughtspectre on all of us if there's any trouble."

"OK," John said, picking up his Chronicler, "let's go."

* * *

Their movement through this facility, which was purportedly so crucial to the Professor, was surprisingly uneventful. The excitement largely consisted of moments of suspense as the sound of clanking metal grew louder, and Zhalia concealing them with illusions.

Other than that, they circumnavigated the hallways, corridors and staircases of the facility unmolested, passing the junctions which were large enough to warrant the emplacement of a stationary Kilthane (or several) with Zhalia's illusions.

Finally, the Seekers came to a dead end: a corridor that ended in a circular area with nothing except a grand set of double doors opposite them.

Incidentally, this corridor (and the circular area) was bristling with Kilthanes.

Everyone looked at John, while shielded from the Kilthanes' view by Zhalia's Thoughtspectre.

He continued working at the Chronicler.

"Hmm…" he twirled a finger in the air.

"According to this, the thing is right about…there!" he pointed, almost directly upwards, but a few tens of degrees forward.

"So…through the door?" Lok asked.

"Well, this looks reasonably like a throne room of sorts to me," John replied.

Dante nodded, "But we'll need to see what's behind it first. We can't go charging in blindly."

"No problem," Zhalia smiled.

"Innersight (A/N New power, and no, before you ask, she doesn't use it when Dante's in the shower)"

Her eyes glowed silver as she scrutinised the interior of the room beyond the wall.

"Hmm…" she said as the glow faded.

"There's nothing in there except some computer banks."

"Hey," Den smiled, "maybe the Nullord's taking a coffee break."

Den and Viviane laughed.

"Looks like Organisation systems architecture," Zhalia continued.

Eathon nodded.

"That's probably where they keep the schematics for the things they build here."

"And it may have some other information too, like where to build what," John said.

"Then we'll need to capture it," Dante said.

"Well, I could hack it," Zhalia said.

"But we'll need to get in first," said Lucas.

Sophie touched the door.

"It's magically sealed and reinforced. It won't be easy to get in."

"Can't you use Breakspell?" Harrison asked.

"That's no good," Dante said.

"The magical discharge will alert the Kilthanes."

"Or," John said, "Zhalia, use Thoughtspectre."

She extended the illusion to envelop the door, although she didn't project anything different from reality.

"Hide the discharge," John said.

"Formbreak!"

The door glowed purple, but the Kilthanes didn't take notice.

"Farslip!" Lok called.

The serpentine bolt of green energy disabled the door's locking mechanism.

Dante pushed it open, and the group entered.

Dellix shut it behind them, and Zhalia dropped the illusion.

"Here, download the files into my Holotome," Dante told his fiancée.

"OK."

The others inspected the room as Zhalia got cracking.

It was largely unadorned, and there was nothing of interest to be found, although John did note two staircases behind the computer banks which led directly to where his Chronicler said the amplifier for the factory was.

"There!" Zhalia finally cried.

The Seekers perked up.

She disconnected Dante's Holotome from the computer bank.

"Now let's…"

Suddenly, the door glowed purple.

"Uh oh," Viviane said, gripping her boyfriend's hand tightly in fear.

And, in front of the door, a Nullord materialised.

His hands glowed purple.

"_Prepare to die._"

"Thoughtspectre!" Zhalia cried, and the team vanished.

But then, the Nullord raised a hand, sending a pulse of energy through the entire facility, which disrupted Zhalia's mental magic and set off flashing alarm lights and blaring klaxons.

"_Did you really expect that to work?_" the Nullord seemed to be smiling viciously at them.

Miasma whips extended from its hands, as he surged forward.

"_Die! Die! DIE!_"

He swung the whips violently about, as the Seekers tried their best to dodge them.

Sophie miscalculated a jump, and was struck across the abdomen. The blow sent her flying into a wall.

"Sophie!" Lok cried.

The Nullord seemed to be gloating over the boy.

"_Bah, pitiful humans._"

But in his moment of distraction, Lucas got in a Sunburst, sending the Nullord flying.

"You'll pay for that!" Lok screamed, tearing up slightly.

"BLADECALL!"

He lunged at the dazed Titan.

Nullord threw up his hands, and a purple wall of miasma deflected Lok's downward slash.

The Titan retaliated, attempting to grab hold of Lok, his hand now glowing a sickly blood-red.

But Lok dodged, and swung hard into Nullord's side, crumpling the Titan to the ground.

"Now!" Eathon called.

In unison, the Seekers blasted the Nullord with their spells of choice.

He didn't rise again.

"Formbreak!" John removed the Nullord's door enchantment, as Lok ran to help Sophie to her feet.

"Go!" John shouted, before turning back and running in the other direction, deeper into the room.

"John! What are you doing?" Dante shouted.

"I've got the least to lose."

The boy knew that Dante knew what he was going to do.

John tossed a crystal at him.

"This one leads back to the other Nullord. Tell Kevin to call me once you guys get there."

Dante blinked. He had not expected this.

"Go!" John barked.

_That boy is too young to be so old_, he thought, as he ran to rejoin the rest of his comrades.

John took a deep breath, and sprinted up the stairs.

And, just as he expected, he found, within the chamber above the room with the computer banks, a massive orb, glowing with blood-red energies.

He glanced back to his Chronicler, looking through the readouts from the conduit enchantment emulator.

_ That miasma shield is _good.

* * *

Eathon slid between the ranks of Kilthanes.

"Doublespell! Raypulse! Raypulse!"

He blasted three Titans, disabling them long enough to let the other Seekers through.

A flurry of spells from the rest took care of the others.

The Invisible Knight patrol that passed in front of them was easily disposed of with an Overslam from Lok.

"Move! Move! Move!" Eathon shouted.

A door burst open, and Droneslaves poured out.

"Stopglue!" Dante shouted from behind the rest.

The spell blocked off the door, trapping the rest of the Droneslaves within.

"Touchram!" Kevin blasted away the Droneslaves that were already outside.

"We need to get out of here!" Dante shouted.

"John gave me the crystal that will bring us back to where the Nullord is. We need to get out so that we can activate it!"

"But where's John?" Kevin asked Dante.

He didn't answer.

"He…told you to call him when we got out," Dante said after a while.

The conversation was cut short by an encounter with a handful of Magemasons.

One of them managed to conjure a fireball.

By the time Den realised that it was aimed at him, it was too late to do anything, except for him to instinctively throw up his arms to shield himself.

But Viviane called out, "Armourforge!"

Den found himself gripping a shield, and the fireball that was about to scorch his arms instead exploded harmlessly on it.

He heaved a sigh of relief and turned to his girlfriend, who smiled cutely at him and shrugged.

Dante lunged forth and disabled the Magemasons with punches, sweeps and kicks, and they ran on.

As they passed a dark corridor, a Darkstrider dashed from the shadows, swinging his sabre at the Seekers, only to find Dellix parrying the attack with his own blade, knocking it out of his hands, and then finishing the Titan off with a powerful kick to the face.

They kept going.

With a crash, a section of wall ahead of them broke open, and an Undergolem came thundering out.

"Findshape!" Sophie patched up the wall before anything else could come through.

Zhalia launched herself into the air with a Hyperstride, and gently touched the Titan's forehead.

"Darksleep."

It came crashing to the ground, unconscious.

There was no time to remark on the anticlimactic comeuppance of the giant Titan.

The Seekers ran on.

* * *

John sighed heavily, as he gazed upon the amplifier.

For a moment, he reflected on how he could stand here observing this orb of tyranny, when most others would have either caved to its influence, or be resisting it with every fibre of their being.

But he brushed the idle musings aside and turned his mind instead to the question of how to detonate the amplifier.

"Chronocall!"

John scanned the amplifier.

He did not have many powerful spells, but the energies of the amplifier in the tower were already inherently highly volatile and extremely destructive. The modifications made to this one were simple; thus the volatility of the amplifier increased with its power. It would be simple enough to liberate the energy from its bonds, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion that would reduce the facility to dust. Lok had done it in the tower with a stab of the Willblade, but this amplifier was also significantly hardier.

Unfortunately for the Professor, there were other ways to liberate energy.

John glanced through the data readouts on his Chronicler.

_Well, well, well._

_ It seems the Professor is unacquainted with the Formbreak spell._

_That's about to change._

But before he could do anything else, a serpent of purple energy, its diameter almost equal to his height, slithered towards him.

"Flowrun!" he cried, barely able to dodge in time.

John raised his hands, gathering energy to them, as a figure emerged from one of the staircases.

"_Did you think it would be so easy to vanquish a Nullord?_"

John sucked in his breath. The gravity of the situation had just increased by several orders of magnitude.

The beginnings of a plan were already taking shape in his mind.

_I can't blow the thing now, so I'll have to stall this Titan for a bit, until the others get out. It'll take time to move the Formbreak's energies into the right place, so I'll need to hold him down for a few seconds once the others get out._

John dove out of the way as the Titan cast a blast of miasma at him.

_I can probably hold him, but I'd best save that for as late as possible to keep the element of surprise on my side._

He sidestepped his opponent, as he tried to grab hold of him, his hand glowing blood-red.

_So I'll have to fend him off until they get out._

The Nullord's hands glowed purple, and miasma whips extended from them.

He released a maniacal cackle, and lunged at John.

_Oh, great._

* * *

As the Seekers ran past another door, it burst open, and Harrison nearly found himself decapitated by a Kilthane's swipe.

Fortunately, he dodged it, and with a Raypulse to the head, disabled it long enough to let the others run past.

As they turned another corner, they found the passage choked with Droneslaves, Invisible Knights, and Magemasons.

But before any of the hostile Titans could attack, Lane blasted the ground: "Bristlevine!"

The entire force was bound up in vines.

"Sunburst!" Lucas called, unleashing a mighty explosion which sent the immobilised Titans flying, and blew out the walls and floor, revealing the corridor they were about to run down to be a covered overhead walkway.

They could easily escape the factory compound by activating Hyperstride, jumping onto what remained of one of the support columns under the walkway, and leaping out from there.

"Follow me!" Den cried.

"Hyperstride!"

He bounded onto the support column, and then outwards, towards one of the gates of the wall surrounding the factory.

"Doublespell! Touchram!" Den called, blasting the two Ferric Warbringers, who were standing guard there, to the ground.

Dante landed next to him.

"Gatecleave!"

Den jumped through, as the others landed and followed suit, while Dante stood guard.

"Kindlestrike!" he blasted one of the Janus Knights charging towards him, as Cherit swooped down from the crumbling walkway and into the portal.

* * *

Dante looked around. The rest had already entered the portal.

He dodged as another Janus Knight attempted to decapitate him, and dove through the portal before the Titan could try again.

It closed moments later.

"Call John," Dante ordered Kevin, in as detached a fashion as possible.

He had worked with the boy for but a few days, and there was no deep affection between them, but the nobility of his sacrifice, and his courage in choosing it, were intensely moving.

Kevin himself knew his brother enough to realise what he had done.

Sighing heavily, he half-heartedly summoned his Chronicler to himself.

And he sent the signal.

* * *

"Glacierward (A/N New spell)!" John cried, the bluish-white magical barrier protecting him from a conical blast of miasma. The Titan had long given up on using his whips in these confined quarters, and instead resigned himself to casting a variety of projectiles at the Seeker. This proved reasonably effective; the confined quarters also gave John less space to dodge, and thus the battle quite frequently came down to an issue of John's shields versus the Nullord's attacks. The Nullord had actually broken one of his shields before, but the slight delay that the shield caused was enough for John to evade the attack.

As John dove aside to dodge another miasma blast, he glanced quickly at his Chronicler, and saw the flashing indicator on it. That specific indicator was installed by him in order to respond to a beacon he configured on Kevin's Chronicler, and to that beacon alone.

_They're safe._

John smiled.

_It's party time._

"Hydrolock (A/N New spell)!" John called.

He thrust out both his hands. A blue orb, with flecks of white evocative of sea spray, formed between them, and a jet of water surged forth, engulfing the Titan, and freezing him in a block of ice.

John had no time to marvel at his handiwork, and turned instead to the amplifier.

"Formbreak!" he called.

The blue-purple energies surged forth from his hands.

As John shaped the energies into a dome around the amplifier, he heard a crash.

He was gripped with fear as he realised what had just happened.

But still he shaped the spell's energies.

And then, a raw thought from the Nullord, a mental scream, struck him.

"_DIE!_"

John dropped the spell and whirled about.

The Nullord had broken out of his prison of ice, and now levitated above the ground, a jet of flame beneath him, and held a purple orb between his hands.

There was no time to think.

John pulled the sword he took from the Seashadow out from his belt.

"Spellparry!" he cried, as the miasma lance shot towards him.

He swung the sword at just the right time, at just the right angle.

The lance was deflected right into the amplifier.

John dove towards his Chronicler as the amplifier hummed.

"Bubblelift!" he lassoed the device towards himself.

"Chronoshift (A/N New spell)!" the word tumbled from his lips.

An amorphous warp of blue energy appeared around John, swallowing him and condensing into an orb, which then flew through the wall.

And then, _KABOOM!_

* * *

Dante gripped the blue warp crystal, their last reminder of the Seeker who had given his life to thwart the Professor.

He turned to his companions. No words were necessary.

Kevin was staring hard into the ground.

Nullord glid up to them.

"_One of your companions is absent_," he observed.

No-one responded.

They sensed Nullord was frowning.

"_The field…_"

He held up his hands, which glowed purple.

And then, they sensed shock. And a tinge of sadness.

"_I…I am sorry. I truly am._"

He turned to Kevin.

"_I, too, have lost a brother today._"

The boy was too depressed to ask how the Titan knew John was his brother.

"_I'd always believed we'd be able to undo whatever happened to him. But now…_"

Suddenly, there was a blue flash.

The Seekers turned to get a better look at it, only to find John dusting himself off, sword in one hand, Chronicler in the other.

"John! Dude, you're alive!" Kevin cried.

"But…how?" Dante was astonished.

"Well, I was pretty sure it wouldn't work, but while we were waiting for them to try to rebuild the tower, I devised a spell that could use the data embedded in a Chronicler transmission to track its source and warp me to that location. However, it didn't operate by portal, or using the conventional methods of teleportation, but rather adapted the telecommunications networks of the Tomes. I hadn't tested it before today, but it seems to work perfectly."

He gave them some time to digest the fact that he had survived.

"Right, then," John said, cracking his knuckles, "let's take a look at that data."

Dante flipped open his Holotome, bringing up the files that Zhalia. They had totally forgotten about the stolen files, in light of the John's little stunt.

The Seekers crowded around as Dante went through the files, which had been sorted by timestamps.

"Zero Crystal," Dante read the name of the first file.

Kevin pulled one of the stolen gems out of his pocket.

"OK, so what _do_ these things do?"

Dante glanced through.

"They were supposed to be used to project and amplify the will of the Professor and the power of Araknos. But they had some problem with the power falloff with distance being too great."

John tapped his chin.

"I think we can use this. Good catch, Kevin," he said.

They turned back to the Holotome.

"Relay Amplifier."

"That's the thing in the tower!" Zhalia said.

These things projected a form of the Professor's will and Araknos' power. It was required by the Dominators to place the mind-control spell, that would subjugate Titans to the Professor's will, on any Titans using their spikes. Additionally, they could enslave anyone within a certain range directly to the Professor's will

"Control Tower."

"…and that's the tower," Zhalia said.

The design was relatively simple and uninteresting, save for a little spell that masked the entrance of the tower, making the whole thing appear to be a uniform black cylinder.

"There's a whole network of them," Dante said, looking at the map of tower positions in the file, "but I don't think destroying any one of them will do us much good."

"Overlord Projector."

This file was significantly more detailed.

The Overlord Projector was the control panel for the Professor's network of towers. It could pick up the Professor's will and Araknos' power from anywhere in Huntik, amplify them back to many times their full strength, and project it anywhere too, although Araknos' power would only be effective within proximity of the Projector itself. In other words, it allowed the Professor to issue his orders to any of the Titans already enslaved to him by his Dominators from anywhere in Huntik, while also taking control of the mind of anyone close enough to it. It additionally enabled the Professor to share the sensory experiences of any creature under his control.

John glanced through the technical specifications.

"Hmm…If I'm not mistaken, I can transform Xuanwu's Restore beams into a form that can be projected by this!"

"And with a bit of a boost," Lane added, "that might dissipate the Professor's mental magic on all the Titans in Huntik!"

"Overlord's Keep."

Dante cocked an eyebrow as he read through the descriptions of the fortifications and defences of the Professor's headquarters.

"Well…this is useful."

"That's more than a bit of an understatement," Lucas said. "We know _everything_ about his fortress now. We even know exactly where it is! Den's guess of region was a bit broad."

Dante gave the others a few more minutes to look through the file, before moving on to the next one.

"What's that?" Harrison pointed a note on one side of the schematics.

"Hmm," Dante said, leaning in to read more closely, "a security feature. Apparently, only the Professor can enter and exit the keep unless the two Aegis Citadels are down."

"Aegis Citadels?" Dellix asked quizzically.

"I think we'll get to that soon enough," Dante said, moving on to the next file.

"Command Amplifier."

"Ah," John said. "The amplifier in the manufactory."

He glanced through the specifications.

"As my scans indicate, just a scaled-up, hardened version of the regular amplifier."

"Core Manufactory."

"Well, since it's nothing but rubble now, I don't think this file will be of much use to us," Sophie smiled.

"Aegis Citadels."

"Here we go," Dante said.

The Aegis Citadels, it turned out, were massive complexes which powered a field around the Overlord Projector, which essentially prevented anyone from entering the room it was in unless both had been disabled (the two were redundant). Judging from the controls, it would be far easier to just destroy the whole structure altogether. One was located in the Krono-Titan Region, and the other in the Litho-Titan Region.

"Each Citadel is to contain a Command Amplifier and to be overseen by a Tyrant," Den read.

"What's that?"

"Maybe another kind of structure," Harrison offered.

"No," said Eathon, opening his Holotome.

"It's a Titan."

"Tyrant," the device intoned. "Attack: 8. Defence: 8. Type: Swara-Titan Warrior. Size: Large. Special Abilities: Mind-Control Spikes."

"He's a massive, sickly-white reptilian covered with dull-grey armour," Eathon explained, "with a long, thin, rat-like tail, and a head that looks like a pterodactyl. He's got bony blades protruding from his back. His fingers are irregularly webbed and end in vicious claws. And his right hand holds a massive whip, with spikes that can control the mind of whoever they are embedded in."

Dante continued down to the last structure.

"Babel Enslaver."

The group grew increasingly concerned as Dante scrolled through the description.

"This…"

The structure was a massive tower, designed to be constructed precisely in the centre of Huntik, where all the regions met. Its actual function was relatively simple: it merely accepted input from the Overlord Projector and boosted it. But it boosted it immensely; so much so that a person standing on the very edge of Huntik may as well have been kissing the Overlord Projector.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the file.

"Progress Report," Dante read, "Components manufactured. Construction team mobilised. Estimated Time to Completion: Seven days."

The Seekers looked at each other.

"If they build that thing," Sophie said, "there's no point fighting at all!"

"And think about how quickly he'll be able to take over Earth!" Lane exclaimed. "He can build as many of them as he likes here, and with that kind of range, and Overlos' ability to drop them anywhere on Earth, it could be over in _minutes_!"

Lok, who had been silent up till this point, snapped his fingers.

"I think I have a plan."

Dante shut his Holotome, and they all turned to the boy.

"It won't be easy, but here goes. We need to destroy both Citadels. But if we attack one, the Professor will focus all his forces on defending the other, and he'll probably lay a bunch of traps for us. So we'll have to split up and hit both at the same time."

Lok continued, "The next part of the plan will only concern Sophie, my Dad, Dante, Zhalia and myself. Since the Professor could capture any one of us and read our minds, it's best that fewer people know what it is. But we won't be attacking the Aegis Citadels. So that will leave Lucas, Lane, Dellix and Kevin to take down the one in the Krono-Titan Region, while John, Harrison, Den and Viviane will attack the one in the Litho-Titan Region."

No objections were raised.

"Coordinate the attack, so that you both start at the same time. You guys need to hit the Command Amplifier, and find some way out before everything gets blown up. We'll meet up at the Swara-Titan Region."

"Then we'll attack the Professor. Now John, I need you to look into that thing about Xuanwu. If you can get the Overlord Amplifier to give out purification energy instead, guess what the Babel Enslaver will do?"

John smiled at the prospect, slowly nodding his head.

"Leave the rest to me. We really don't want the Professor to find out this part of the plan."

"Alright. A good plan," he noted, "but before we set out, I'd like to take a look at those schematics. I think I know a way we can counter the Professor's mind-control magic without having to rely on willpower."

Dante sent the files over to John's Chronicler.

"There you go."

"Now we'd better get some rest first," Eathon said.

"_We would gladly offer some accommodation,_" the Nullord offered.

"_One of the villages friendly to my cause is but a few kilometres away, and en route for us at any rate._"

"Alright," Dante said. "It's getting late, and this will give John time to work on his counter for the Professor. Also, maybe we could hear that last part of Lok's plan."

"OK," Lok said, as the Seekers followed the Nullord.

_To be continued…_

**A/N Urgh…lesson learnt: sleeping little and eating little is bad for your health.**

** So, what is Lok's secret plan? How does the attack on the Citadels go? What do Eathon and the original team have to do to stop the Professor? Stay tuned to find out!**

** LL PID: Well, that's one way of putting it. But really, this isn't the place for personal conversations. Another of the several reasons why I'd rather not have anonymous reviewers.**

** But anonymous reviewers are better than no reviewers! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

** Sorry, my ego's grown a little hungrier than usual lately.**

**Anyway, it's settled: this little detour into Huntik will last exactly 5 chapters, spanning chapter 6 to 10. What happens next? Read on (and hope I write faster) to find out!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Rise of the Resistance

Chapter 9: The Rise of the Resistance

**A/N Sorry for the delay, guys, but it's becoming increasingly hard for me to clear all the distractions from my blocks of free time, sit down, and write. I'll try harder next time, 'kay?**

_Draco-Titan Region, Huntik  
The next day_

Lok pushed the covers off and yawned, as he sat up in his cot.

He rubbed his eyes, and looked to his left, and then his right.

The cot to his left was empty, and the sheets were in a mess. He smiled slightly; his Dad had never been very comfortable in modern society, and years of sleeping in caves hadn't helped.

The cot on his right, on the other hand, was neatly and tidily made. His smile widened; Sophie may have had servants waiting on her hand and foot, but she was more than capable of personally meeting her own standards of propriety by herself if necessary.

He stretched a bit, and left the hut, scratching his head. Like his father, he left his bed unmade, but in his case, he was just plain lazy.

Lok yawned again as he joined his friends around a large table outside.

"Good morning, Lok," Sophie said sunnily, giving her boyfriend a quick kiss as he took his seat between her and his father.

The fare was simple, just bread and grapes, but it would suffice.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can begin," John said, dusting the breadcrumbs off his hands.

He pulled a handful of crystals out.

"I was reading through the specs last night. Turns out these are actually _more_ powerful than the somewhat clunkier Amplifiers the Professor settled on, but the problem is, as the file mentioned, the falloff rate. At short ranges of within a metre, the Zero Crystals can actually overpower even an Amplifier. But just a little bit beyond that, its power quickly becomes far too low to be useful."

He continued, "So I came up with a way to use these to protect us from the Professor's mind-control when we're attacking. Simply put, I emplaced the same enchantments the Professor did, except that they are attuned to me, rather than him."

"So, you controlled your own mind?" Dante asked.

"Yes, in a sense. The Zero Crystal overrode the Professor's mind-control within a short range, so within that range all mental would cease to work unless I permitted it to."

"Zhalia, take note," he told her.

Then he continued, "It would be a trivial matter to attune them to each of your minds, so that each of you has a personal anti-mind-control field. You just need to exert a little bit of willpower in order to operate upon your own mind through the field, and that should keep it out of the Professor's hands."

John handed out the crystals.

The crystal glowed brilliantly in Lok's hand as he took hold of it.

"I've preconfigured them to attune themselves to the first person they touched. It was rather troublesome to implement that exception for myself."

Lok nodded as he went back to the table.

He focused on the crystal, and spent a few seconds orientating himself to the feel of the whole thing.

He quickly detected his own mind, and "took hold", so to speak, of it.

Immediately, he felt the ever-present mental itch from the Professor's dark influence dissolve into nothingness, and involuntarily released a sigh of relief.

His friends around him reacted similarly.

"Excellent. All seems to be in order," John said, dusting his hands off.

He reached into his pockets, grabbing a handful more.

"Each of you should take a few extra. You never know," he said.

Once he had distributed the extra crystals, he said, "Alright, one more thing. From the schematics, the Command Amplifier is located in the same room as the apparatus that generates the field around the Professor's fortress. Detonating it would guarantee that the apparatus is destroyed too, along with a significant part of the Citadel. But probably not the whole thing altogether, since it is several times the size of the factory. The problem is that these Command Amplifiers are going to be a tad tougher than the last one to take out: they, and the adjacent apparatus, are protected by an extremely powerful shield projected by a configured Zero Crystal around the neck of the Tyrant in charge of the Citadel. The crystals should be easy enough to destroy; it's getting them _off _of Tyrant that's troublesome."

He continued, "And finally, I advise that we execute the assault under the cover of night. The Professor may be able to teleport anywhere on a whim, but from the schematics of the Overlord Projector, it would seem that he would only be able to actively command his forces and act according to what they observe when conscious. So if we hit late at night, when the Professor is most likely sleeping, we'd be less likely to raise the alarm all the way."

Having said all that he needed to, he sat back down.

The rest continued with the meal, the conversation breaking up once more into little groups.

The Nullord drifted up to them as they were finishing their breakfast.

He bowed his head, and projected a sense of solemn respect.

"_Thank you. You have done far more for us than we could have hoped for. With our…traitorous brother…eliminated, and the main bastion of the enemy in rubble, we can strike more boldly against the enemy, hopefully bringing down the rest of our enslaved brethren, and perhaps curing them. This has hurt us badly, but thanks to you, not as badly as it could have._"

He turned to Zhalia.

She could feel his gaze boring into her very soul (which was odd, considering that he had no eyes).

"_And may _He_ bless you as you sally forth to vanquish the oppressor._"

Zhalia froze.

The Nullord seemed to pay no heed to this, drifting away to rejoin his forces.

Her companions were all popping their last grapes into their mouths, wiping their faces, dusting breadcrumbs off their clothes, and so forth, as though nothing had happened.

She knew that her fiancé and most of her companions were religious, but their reaction to a divine benediction from a Titan was a little…underwhelming to say the least.

She grabbed Dante's arm.

"Did you hear what the Nullord said?"

"Nothing remarkable," John butted in.

"The Titans were, after all, creating for the specific purpose of battling the Nullifiers. That they would have direct knowledge of the Creator should not come as such a surprise, seeing as they are immortal, nor should a Titan as intelligent and autonomous as Nullord having the wisdom to request His benediction be unexpected."

Zhalia remained troubled. She had been taught by Klaus to exploit people's religious (or irreligious) sentiments, though the former skill wasn't all too useful, given that precious few of the people she dealt with were devout enough for even the most extreme of manipulations to have any effect (but the same did not hold for the latter).

She had, however, not given much thought to the pertinent question of the truth behind these sentiments, if any. The question had simply never occurred to her. But now that this was (literally) glaring at her in the face…

It took a substantial amount of effort for her to shelve the question and refocus on the task at hand.

She was sure it would come back to haunt her, sooner or later.

* * *

_Krono-Titan Region, Huntik_

It wasn't long before the sound of combat, by now familiar to Kevin, Lucas, Lane and Dellix, came to their ears once more.

They took cover behind a conveniently situated boulder, and the team members poked their heads out, looking around.

In a moderately-sized flat plain, there was a small band of assorted Titans: Giantkiller, Kallipolitan (A/N These two are from the TCG; see the Huntik wiki for more info), Baselaird, Megataur, Palamedes, Pellinore, a tall, imposing humanoid warrior clad in golden, jewelled robes and armour, with a cloak of golden precious furs over his shoulders, and a golden Corinthian helmet with a golden crown atop it, and wielding a long golden spatha, and a humanoid figure in white robes, floating above the ground with a turquoise glow beneath him, surrounded by turquoise sigils, and wielding a staff made of fragments of alabaster held together by turquoise energy.

On each side of these Titans, there was a squad of Bellonas, in three ranks of four. Behind each squad was a Dark Dryad, and behind the squad facing the golden warrior, there was another Titan, a Belgrieve.

The Bellonas slowly closed in, and the band of Titans backed away from their opponents. Pellinore, Baselaird, Palamedes and the golden warrior hacked at the vines that the Dark Dryads sent to ensnare them, while Kallipolitan sent arcs of lightning to disintegrate them, the white sorcerer blasted them away with turquoise energy, and Giantkiller and Megataur dodged and uprooted them.

Kevin was already scanning the unidentified Titans with his Chronicler.

"Midas," it chanted, displaying the golden warrior.

"Attack: 4. Defence: 4. Type: Krono-Titan Warrior. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Golden Touch. Summon Satyr Highguards."

"Aethos," it projected the image of the white sorcerer.

"Attack: 4. Defence: 2. Type: Krono-Titan Sorcerer. Size: Average. Special Abilities: Aether Blast. Create Portal. Revive."

"Powerscan," Lane extended her hand.

She frowned.

"The Bellonas, Dark Dryads and Belgrieve are under the control of the Professor. If we help this group out, maybe they could tell us where the Aegis Citadel is!"

"But how?" Kevin asked.

Lucas tapped his chin, strategising.

The eight Titans were paired up, each pair facing one of the cardinal directions, and thus, one of the hostile squads. Pellinore and Palamedes, Giantkiller and Baselaird, Aethos and Megataur, and Kallipolis and Midas.

"Giantkiller, as the name suggests, is apt at slaying large and powerful targets, which is a poor match for his ability to gain strength from each vanquished foe, but that's an irrelevant aside. He's paired with Baselaird, who's one of the more adept for clearing out masses of hostiles like this, but that's still one down. I suggest we ambush the squad facing them. Try to take down the Dark Dryad; she's the main problem. This should create a diversion, disrupt the formation, and hopefully give the friendly Titans an opportunity to break out of the encirclement."

"I concur," Dellix said, drawing his sword.

"Alright," Lucas said.

"Three…two…one…"

"HYPERSTRIDE!"

The sudden cry startled friend and foe alike, but the allegiances of the newcomers to the fray quickly became clear.

Lucas ploughed through his self-identified priority target with a Solarstrike, and Dellix incapacitated her with a sharp crack from the pommel of his trusty blade, while Lane shattered the already-disintegrating ranks of Bellonas with a Kindlestrike, and Kevin threw them into further disarray with a Touchram.

The band of Titans wasted no time. Baselaird charged the remaining Bellonas in the squad he was facing, while Kallipolitan raised the scroll in his left hand. The glyphs glowed golden, as did the eyes of the Dark Dryad behind the squad Pellinore and Palamedes were facing. Vines ensnared both said squad and the squad that Aethos and Megataur were facing. Aethos generated a portal in front of himself, vanished into it, and reappeared behind the Dark Dryad he was facing, who had barely recovered from the shock of the past few seconds. With a single swipe from his staff, the Titan was rendered unconscious. Aethos then began unleashing blasts of turquoise into the Bellona squad from behind, while Megataur ploughed through them from in front.

Meanwhile, Midas produced a pipe, and began to play on it. A portal formed behind him, from which came twelve half-goat, half-man warriors, each a little shorter than the average human, wielding long spears and covered in red plate armour inlaid with gold.

He pointed the blade ahead, and charged forth, with the Satyr Highguards (which was what the team assumed these were) following behind.

Midas moved and fought with exceptional skill and agility, cutting down the Bellonas with swift, precise strokes, weaving through them and leaving the Satyr Highguards to mop up after him. He reached the Belgrieve with perfect timing; Giantkiller had just launched a rock with lethal accuracy at the Titan's forehead, sending him tottering. Midas delivered the coup de grace, toppling the Titan altogether, and then going on to plant his hand on the Dark Dryad, employing his fabled Golden Touch ability.

All this happened in the short span of a few seconds. As Pellinore and Palamedes, and Aethos and Megataur cleared the last of their respective squads of Bellonas, Kallipolitan blasted the last Dark Dryad with a mighty thunderbolt from the staff he gripped in his right hand, incapacitating the last of their foes.

The Titans assembled before the Seekers.

The floating cyclops known as Kallipolitan descended to the ground.

"We express our gratitude," his voice rumbled, much like thunder from a distant storm.

"Think nothing of it," Lucas said.

"You are no doubt aware, sir," he continued, "of the evil that infests this place."

Kallipolitan nodded. "Indeed. We know all too well of the dark fortress which turns any who go near it into a slave of evil."

"We were on our way to destroy it, but we don't know where it is. Could you show us the way?"

"No, wait," Lane said, producing some of the spare Zero Crystals John had given them earlier that day.

"You could join us. Help us fight them! These crystals will protect you from the control of the enemy. Together, we'll have a much better chance of succeeding!"

"Good thinking, Lane," Lucas smiled.

Aethos tipped his staff forward. The tip glowed, and turquoise energies surrounded the crystal, bringing it closer to him.

He turned to Kallipolitan and nodded.

"Excellent," Kallipolitan said.

"One favour for another, then. We shall join you in your quest, noble warrior."

Lucas bowed slightly.

"It is an honour."

* * *

_Litho-Titan Region, Huntik_

Night had fallen for quite a while, before the team arrived at their destination.

Den peered down from over a cliff, while Viviane clung tightly to his arm, standing behind him. The drop was immense; they could see whitish shapes circling _beneath_ them. Nordrakes, most likely. They could also faintly make out several darker shapes beneath them. Gar-Ghouls if they were lucky, King Basilisks otherwise, but most probably a mix of both, which was potentially even worse news.

John tapped the display on his Chronicler.

"Alright, there should be a Command Amplifier right…down…there."

The Seekers could barely make out the facility far below. It was surrounded by mountain walls on all sides, with only a narrow road out.

It made sense. The steep drop would deter most of the potential terrestrial invaders from this biome, and the few airborne ones wouldn't have the firepower to break through the facility, which was no doubt extremely heavily armoured. To say nothing of the aerial patrolling Titans, which would make short work of any fliers they sighted. The ground ingress was most likely very heavily defended and its sides greatly reinforced. It looked barely wide enough for a Metagolem to pass through. An extremely useful arrangement; it would funnel an offensive force, ensuring that only one attacker could engage the defenders at any given time. Needless to say, said attacker would be rather swiftly dispatched by the defenders.

The Citadel itself was a massive, imposing fortress of rock. Externally, it was symmetrical in appearance, but the internal passages were a veritable labyrinth. The spotlights atop the roof swept the walls, deterring any would-be infiltrators, and an extra pair was kept constantly trained on the entrance. It was far too immense for any external defences to be attached, however, although it didn't look like they'd be needed.

John walked up beside Den, and carefully examined the battlefield.

"Those airborne Titans will likely be watching out for either other flying Titans or for the exceptionally foolhardy who attempt insertion via those mountain walls. But we, being neither fliers nor fools, shall take them by surprise."

His fingers flew over the controls of his Chronicler.

It projected a hologram of the roof of the structure below.

"My Chronicler cross-referenced the schematics we grabbed from the factory with the scan results to find the optimal points of ingress. Luckily, this place has just been sitting here, staying the same way it was when it was designed. Results aren't promising, though; the Professor wasn't stupid enough to put pointless maintenance hatches all over the roof, the damage resistance of the entire thing is uniformly high, and the teleportation-proofing is still in place. So our options are here," he pointed to a bright spot on the roof, "which is the point closest to the Command Amplifier, and thus the apparatus we need to destroy. Then there's here, where ingress will be easiest. But make no mistake; the armour there is still rock-solid. And then there's this one. Not unreasonably far from the Command Amplifier, and also one of the more lightly-armoured points, though not the easiest to break through, even compared to the others."

"So…how do we get inside?" Harrison asked.

"That's the problem," John said. "How indeed? Even if we've selected a point of ingress, how do we get through it?"

Den turned away from the edge, examining his surroundings.

"What if we dropped a really bigrock on it?" he mused aloud.

John frowned, as he set his Chronicler to work again.

"In the case of a simple spherical boulder, we'd literally need a tonne of rock to break through at the weakest ingress point, if dropped from here."

"And for the point nearest to the Projector?" Harrison enquired.

"About twenty percent more."

"I have just the Titan," Viviane snapped her fingers.

"Ready for battle, CORALGOLEM!"

The lightweight (compared to his stony brethren) Litho-Titan stood ready.

John opened his mouth and raised a finger, about to say something, but then he lowered it.

"Fair enough," he admitted.

He cleared his throat.

"Alright, here's the plan. I'll go down stealthily and move into position over the ingress point. Wait for about half a minute, then all three of you, use Bubblelift to lift Coralgolem up. I'll send up a Boltflare; quickly move Coralgolem to that point. Then release Coralgolem. Is that clear?"

The three nodded.

John pulled out two crystals.

"Gatebind!"

Viviane turned to Den, whispering, "Does he _ever_ run out of those?"

Den shrugged.

"Gatecleave!" John called, setting up a portal.

"Alright, showtime. Camoforge!" he vanished from the sight of his allies.

John took a deep breath.

"HYPERSTRIDE!"

He launched himself into the air, then, making sure he was at the right point, cast Bubblelift to slow his descent, while remaining invisible to his foes.

He anxiously drifted to the ground, first dodging the patrolling Nordrakes, and then confirming his suspicions about the nature of the dark shapes beneath the Nordrakes: they were indeed a mix of Gar-Ghouls and King Basilisks (and of course he dodged them too).

Finally, after a painfully long ride, John dispelled the Bubblelift spell.

He checked his Chronicler, positioning himself as close as possible to the ingress point that would lead to most immediate access.

He gazed upwards, as the flaws in his plan started becoming apparent to him, as they always did, halfway through its execution.

_I can't see the blasted thing…_

But he was lucky, this time; the solution followed shortly after.

"Hawkeye," he whispered, scanning the sky.

The bubble with Coralgolem in it came in view.

_Excellent._

"Boltflare!" John called, his illusion spell fading, and drawing the attention of every Titan in the vicinity to himself.

The spell bathed the sky in golden-orange light.

Harrison, Den and Viviane manoeuvred the Coralgolem to the point John had marked, and released him.

He plummeted like a rock.

Probably because he _was_ a rock.

With a thunderous crash, the roof split open and caved in. Coralgolem immediately returned to his amulet; he would be recuperating there for a while.

John could faintly make out his three companions jumping down towards his position.

He looked around. The nearest Gar-Ghoul was nearly within firing range.

With no time to waste, he dove into the facility…

…only to barely avoid being struck by a huge, viciously-spiked whip.

_Oh. I forgot about that._

He turned to face his foe, the mighty Titan Tyrant, in all his armoured, reptilian glory. John was tall for his age (in fact, for _any_ age), but he barely reached the bottom of the Titan's knee.

But he spied the red crystal hanging around Tyrant's neck, and remembered his own advice that he gave to his comrades earlier that day.

_So, take down the Tyrant, smash the crystal, hit the Amplifier, and blow this place up._

Of course, the situation continued complicating itself.

The Command Amplifier sat nestled amongst heaps of machinery and magical artefacts, all of which positively radiated power.

Surrounded by three Sentry Triclopses.

And then, as if things weren't bad enough as they were, the door burst open, and in poured Dominators leading legions of Jokouls, Jewelled Colossi (A/N TCG; see the wiki) and vicious, agile Dobermans (the Titans, not the dogs), few of the terrestrial Litho-Titans small and mobile enough to have reached the room in reasonable time.

John's heart sank, but there would be time for grumbling later. Right now, his primary preoccupation was avoiding a premature maiming at the claws of Tyrant, and then blowing the whole place to kingdom come.

Den, Viviane and Harrison landed around him.

"So what's the plan?" Den asked, as the hostile Titans rushed towards them.

"Take out Tyrant, then run," John said.

"I'll take care of the rest," he said gravely.

The others nodded.

Tyrant swung again, but John deflected the attack with Spellparry and the sword he took from the Seashadow.

"Darkwave!" called Harrison, carving through his foes.

"Overslam!" Den blasted away his opponents.

Viviane warded off her attackers with an Honourguard, until Den was able to help her deal with them more permanently.

He turned to John.

"You take care of the Tyrant! We'll hold these guys off!"

"Roger!" John barked, as he deflected another swing from Tyrant's whip.

Den, Viviane and Harrison fanned out, with Den to the centre, Viviane at his left and Harrison at his right. They cut off the attacking Titans from the main body of the room, where John, Tyrant, the Citadel's machinery, and the Sentry Triclopses were.

Most Seekers would not have the chance (or rather, exceedingly grave misfortune) to face such a high concentration of Titans at any time.

This was, however, surprisingly less difficult than they would have anticipated. The sheer volume of hostiles confined to such a small space ensured that any spell fired would hit something, and furthermore greatly increased the effect of area-of-effect spells like Touchram, Overslam and Darkwave.

"Battleforge! Armourforge!" Viviane called, equipping herself and her companions with swords and shields, which they used to ward off attackers at close range.

Den fired off yet another Overslam, then intercepted a lunging Doberman with his shield.

The blasted Titans had managed to shrug off far too many of his attacks. He dispatched this particular one with a Dragonfist-powered strike from his blade.

He wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, as he turned to face the oncoming wave of Titans again.

"John! Hurry up!"

A flash of black and a thump caught John's attention.

John's flicked his head sharply, training his gaze on the hole in the ceiling his teammates had created.

The Gar-Ghoul struck again, still finding its frame obstructed by the dimensions of the hole.

This time, the toughness of the fortress worked in their favour. These walls, that had taken a literal tonne of rock at terminal velocity to shatter, were not about to let Gar-Ghoul break through them this easily.

It snarled and hissed, glaring at John.

And then came the high-powered blast of water.

John barely managed to evade the attack. It blasted, instead, the incoming whip of the tyrant, breaking off a few of the spikes.

"Guys! LOOK OUT!"

Den, Harrison and Viviane moved out of the way, as the jet of water ploughed through the enemy Titan ranks, knocking them to their feet.

The Gar-Ghoul, realising that it could only do more harm than good from this position, reluctantly retreated, snapping and snarling as it left.

John cast a glance towards the approaching Sentry Triclopses. These veritable behemoths were nigh-unstoppable in combat, and would indeed constitute the majority of the threat in the entire facility.

And they were headed straight for him.

He dodged Tyrant's claws as the Titan lumbered towards him.

_Perhaps there is a way to use the Triclopses against the Tyrant…_

"Augerfrost! Augerfrost! Augerfrost!" John called out in quick succession, firing at each Triclops. Of course, each of them dodged; they saw the move coming before John even began to make it.

But now they were angry. The Triclopses accelerated their advance towards him.

Exactly as he planned.

"Flowrun!" John called, as he dashed towards Tyrant, while gracefully dodging its swipes of claw and whip.

The Triclopses course-corrected, bearing down precisely on their target.

John bent down to avoid Tyrant's claws, as he closed in on the Titan himself.

_Come on, come on…_

Then, just as the Triclopses swung towards him with their sledgehammer fists, John lunged into the air.

He passed Tyrant's pterodactyl head, watched in slow-mo as it attempted to open its jaws, then planted his feet on the upper of said jaws, kicking off with great force and propelling himself over Tyrant.

The Triclopses, whose precognition only extended to moves made by their opponents against them, failed to see this coming, and it was only in midswing that they realised they had been tricked.

Three fistfuls of raw power slammed into Tyrant's torso, sending him crashing to the ground.

John, who was still crouched down after landing, absorbed in self-satisfaction, barely realised in time that the growing shadow around him was actually Tyrant falling down (this detail had slipped his plan, as details in his plans were wont to do), and in response tumbled to the side.

He glanced at the fallen Titan. The red crystal still hung around its neck.

"Honourguard!" Viviane cried, throwing up the golden barrier between herself and the tide of attackers, who had intensified their assault upon seeing Tyrant go down.

The shield actually crumbled under the pressure. She warded them off with her sword and shield long enough for Den to notice her predicament and bail her out again.

She would have given him a very big kiss if their lives weren't in imminent danger.

"Bubblelift!" John called, yanking the crystal off Tyrant's neck and into his hand.

Suddenly, he realised that he'd forgotten to plan how, exactly, he was supposed to destroy the thing.

He stared at it as the Triclopses, apparently enraged at his deception, charged towards him.

Then he shrugged, threw the crystal on the ground, and jumped on it, producing a satisfying crack.

_Old fashioned works best._

There was a noticeable drop in the intensity of the humming coming from the cluster of machinery and artefacts in the middle of the room.

Viviane cried out as she fell to the ground, her sword and shield clattering aside, and Harrison was almost pushed over by the surge of attackers.

Den was nearly caught off guard by the blazing-fast spear tip of a Doberman's weapon, but deflected it just in time with his shield.

He didn't have time to hold off the rest of the mob surging towards him. He dashed towards his girlfriend, as he relieved the pressure on his brother with a Touchram.

He feinted at the incoming Titans, keeping them at bay with his sword as Viviane got to her feet and the Titans he had originally been holding off began to circle around him.

_Uh oh_.

Den and Viviane backed away, as they were completely surrounded by the attackers.

They and Harrison stood back to back, weapons pointed towards their foes, trembling in anxiety.

Then, John called out.

"Den! Harrison! Viviane! Get out of here!"

All three turned to look at John, who tumbled out of the way to dodge another barrage of punches from the Sentry Triclopses.

"Den! Catch!"

He tossed something at the boy.

Passing his sword from his right hand to his left, he caught it.

It was the gate crystal that would get them back to safety.

The Titans, however, were not going to stand around waiting. The momentary shock of this unwelcome interruption wore off, and they turned back to the task at hand.

He gripped the crystal and his blade in the same hand, as he turned back to warding off their attackers.

"But didn't you say it couldn't be activated in here?" he said, as he fenced with a Jewelled Colossus.

"Go out through the hole in the roof! NOW! Get back to the portal – oof! – and if I don't come out half a minute after you see this place go boom, then close it."

Den glanced down at the crystal again, then smashed the Jewelled Colossus, who was attempting to use his distraction to get in a lunge, in the face with his shield.

He sighed.

"HYPERSTRIDE!"

He backflipped out of the encirclement and underneath the hole in the ceiling, then catapulted himself through the air and out of the building. The others followed suit shortly after.

"GATECLEAVE!"

The three disappeared into the portal shortly after.

John watched intently as his teammates fled, and turned back to the task at hand when he was sure they were safe.

The legion of Titans was now free to charge towards him, and he had done nothing to lessen the lethality of the Sentry Triclopses.

Time was running out.

"Flowrun!" John called again, dashing between the Triclopses. Their clumsy swings, while damaging, missed the mark, without the aid of precognition.

They lumbered towards him, leading the charge of smaller Titans.

Despite the immediate peril they were in, John couldn't help but smirk.

_They never learn, do they?_

John ran right up to the Command Amplifier. He could almost tangibly feel the will of the Professor tugging at his own, but revelled in the ease at which he was able to shake off the attempts.

He whirled about, as the Triclopses bore down on him, fists already wound up.

And then, "HYPERSTRIDE!"

Time seemed to slow, as the Triclopses threw their incredibly powerful punches at the boy.

He kicked off the ground, placed his feet on the Command Amplifier, and then kicked himself off from there at angle just as the Titans swung towards him. He savoured the slowly-forming images of shock and anger on their faces, then gripped the edge of the hole in the ceiling, using that as leverage to push himself off with his hands.

Conveniently maintaining the flow of the moment, his impromptu trajectory intersected with the portal Den had created.

John tumbled out of the portal just as the heart of the Citadel went up in a cataclysmic explosion, with most of the external sections also being reduced to rubble by the resultant shockwave. The apparatus adjacent to the Projector contributed far more significantly than John expected to the force of the blast.

"Gateclose!" he called, retrieving his crystal.

He tucked in into some hidden pocket, and dusted himself off.

"Right, then, to the rendezvous," he said matter-of-factly, as he led the still somewhat-incredulous team towards the Swara-Titan Region.

* * *

_Krono-Titan Region_

"Hawkeye!"

Lucas scanned the fortress atop the hill. They had arrived under the cover of night, but the facility had massive searchlights mounted atop it, scanning the area around it for inbound hostiles. Fortunately, they contributed enough to the ambient light for Lucas to make out most, if not all, of their defences.

The Professor was cunning. His facility was emplaced on high ground, with a commanding view of the surrounding field. Dark Dryads patrolled the area, and more stood atop the fortress, allowing them to spot anything out of the ordinary in the field and react swiftly and accordingly. Small fleets of Icaruses flew about overhead. They were somewhat fragile, and their shots didn't quite pack the biggest punches, but they made up for that with their superior manoeuvrability and sheer numbers. The light glinted off the armour of the squads of Bellonas that trooped around the base. And finally, in front of the massive, reinforced, firmly shut double doors, stood a single, golden Midas, the glint of his armour obvious even in the dark of night.

Lucas frowned as he retreated just in time for the sweeping searchlights to miss him and silhouette the boulder he and his team were hiding behind.

"This…is not good."

He relayed the defensive positions to them.

Dellix, who had previously been holding his sword at the ready, lowered his guard.

"So what do we do? The others are counting on us to destroy this place."

"Tell me, Lucas," Kallipolitan interrupted, "What is the roof of the fortress made of?"

"Rock, most likely," he said.

"No plants?"

"Doesn't look like there's any."

"Then the Dark Dryads would be severely disadvantaged there."

"Aethos!" he called.

The Titan drifted up, pointed his staff in front of him, and released a beam of turquoise that opened a portal.

"If we can emerge on the roof, disable the Dark Dryads and their illumination, entering the fortress would be far easier."

Lucas nodded.

"But we'll still need a way in. The door is probably going to be more heavily reinforced, and thus harder to destroy, than the wall, so…"

He stepped out swiftly.

"Sunburst!"

Kevin assisted, "Rippleburst!"

The two spells impacted the same spot in the wall. The initial blast from Lucas' spell scattered a squad of Bellonas, and sent a spiderweb of cracks through the wall. Kevin's follow-up blasted a clean hole in the damaged wall large enough for two men to walk through abreast.

The entire facility suddenly went on alert, with the squads of Bellonas converging on their position, and the plants around them suddenly going into a frenzy. The Icaruses swooped down, raining orbs of energy down on them.

"Into the portal! Quick!" Kallipolitan commanded.

No-one objected.

Aethos, inside the swirly turquoise world that his portal served as the gateway to, pointed his staff forward again, and opened another portal, this one leading to the roof of the facility.

The Seekers and Titans spilled out, but they went unnoticed by the Dark Dryad sentinels, who were crowded at one end, looking out for the very targets who were right behind them.

"Touchram!" Kevin blasted them all, sending the entire group tumbling over the edge, unconscious.

Aethos closed the portal, as the others got to work. Lane and Lucas each demolished one searchlight with a Kindlestrike, while Dellix and the other Titans smashed them with their weapons (or fists, in Megataur's case).

The Titans quickly realised their foes' deception, and rapidly about-faced, rushing back to defend their facility.

The Icaruses rained fire down on their adversaries once more as they jumped off the roof and rushed towards the hole in the wall.

But as Midas closed in, a flash of gold from the shadows caught his eye, and he barely managed to parry the incoming sword swing.

Another Midas, this one enslaved by the Professor, emerged, having lain in wait by the hole since the assault began.

"Take him down, Midas! We'll hold the others off!" Lane said, as she whirled about to face the hostiles who were rapidly closing in.

But the words had barely left her lips when a soft thump was heard.

She turned back, to see the Midas unconscious on the ground, with Aethos standing behind him.

"Aethos is right," Kallipolitan said, gliding into the facility and leading the rest through it, "we have to finish this as quickly as possible."

They had entered the entrance atrium of the Citadel from the side. There was plenty of space around, but the Titans that were supposed to guard this area had run out in search of them.

The last bolts from the Icarus hordes struck the walls, as the Seekers and Titans proceeded to the door in the atrium that led into the bowels of the Citadel.

"We should have some way to get out of here," Kallipolitan said.

"Chronocall!" Kevin called.

"Chronicler, map the area as we move along."

"That settles that," Lucas remarked.

Like the factory, the Citadel did not have many inherent defences within its walls, and depended mainly on Titans, stationary and mobile, to combat intruders. Unfortunately for them, the somewhat labyrinthine internal layout forced the defenders to move in small groups, and only build up their numbers when converging on specific locations (like the front door, which happened to no longer be their position). The attackers thus managed to surprise and easily overpower the small groups of defenders they encountered within the fortress. They would occasionally be ambushed by random turrets popping up from the ground, walls and ceiling, but they dealt with them efficiently and without injury.

Fortunately for the Professor, the layout of the Citadel also worked against the invaders. The Chronicler's scan range was limited, so they fifn't have too much of an idea where they were going. They generally headed towards the centre and back of the fortress, until they finally reached a large circular atrium, much like the one outside the "throne room" in the factory.

The band of heroes stood outside the set of double doors, waiting for its human members to catch their breath.

Lucas straightened up.

"Alright, I'm fairly sure that the Command Amplifier is in this room. So on my mark, everyone fire on this door."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Three…two…one…"

"Sunburst!" Lucas called.

"Rippleburst!" Kevin added.

"Kindlestrike!" came Lane and Dellix.

Kallipolitan's lightning, Aethos' aether blast, and one of Giantkiller's pebbles joined in the "fray".

But as the projectiles converged on the target, there was a flash of white.

Something popped up, which intersected the trajectories of all their attacks. The object was utterly pulverised, but the door remained unscathed.

Lucas' eyes widened in surprise, but before anyone could utter a word, there emerged from the ground a large skeletal being, clad in red armour and helmet and wielding a blade made of bones fused with black iron. An enormous shadow clung to him.

The creature roared at them, and stuck its sword into the shadow.

When it drew it out, a dozen or so flaming skulls clung to it, and it swung it, launching said skulls at the Seekers and Titans.

They exploded on impact, spewing gouts of red-hot flame, which they were barely able to dodge.

"What on earth is that?" Dellix cried.

"Cyphercall!" Lucas called.

The Cypherdex materialised in his hands, as the creature "dipped" its blade in the shadow again.

"Scan that thing!"

"Thanatos. Attack: 4. Defence: 7. Type: Krono-Titan Warrior. Size: Large. Special Abilities: Flameskulls. Summon Undead."

The Seekers looked at each other.

_ Uh oh._

Thanatos stabbed the ground with his blade, sending cracks towards the Seekers and Titans. The shadow ran into them, widening the fissures, and skeletons wielding all manner of weapons emerged.

Kevin cursed.

"Goldcloak! Lightwield!"

The boy, now armed and armoured, glared resolutely at his opponents.

"Lightedge!" Dellix readied his blade, and entered a combat stance.

"Lane, you're with me," he ordered, running towards the Titan. "The rest of you, hold off the undead!"

"We're going to take that thing down," he said to her as she joined him.

The Titan was still channelling the darkness from the seemingly never-ending massive shadow into the cracks, spawning more skeletons from them.

Kallipolitan held up his staff, and bolts of lightning arced from it, disintegrating the skeletons, while Aethos and Giantkiller took potshots at those further away or approaching from odd angles.

Megataur and Baselaird ploughed through them, the former swinging his fists left and right and the latter smashing through them with his shield, while the others duelled the attackers, cutting them down with their blades. But for each one they felled, another crawled out of the fissures.

"We need to get that sword out of its hands!" Lane said, as they dodged the oncoming skeletons while advancing towards Thanatos.

Lucas nodded.

"I'll bind its hands. Use Kindlestrike to break its grip."

Lane nodded.

They closed in on the Titan, with Lucas punching any skeletons that attempted to stop them out of the way.

Finally, he was close enough.

"Sunlock!" he cried, as he threw himself in the air.

The golden energy wrapped around Thanatos' wrists, and it reflexively strained against it, loosening its grip on its weapon.

Lane quickly followed up, and the lance of blue energy knocked the blade down, temporarily stemming the flow of skeletons.

Lucas fell to the ground and picked up the blade.

Thanatos broke free from the spell, and started reaching for its weapon.

"Lucas!" Lane alerted him, concerned.

"Solarstrike!"

Lucas was faster. He hefted the blade, and swung. Hard.

There was the crunch of bone, and then the Titan came crashing down.

The blow had smashed into its shins, so Lucas had to dive out of the way as the Titan fell onto its own weapon.

It lay there, stationary.

Dellix cut down the last skeleton, and an awkward silence permeated the room for a few seconds.

"Come on!" Lucas shouted, recovering, as he primed a Sunburst.

"The real fight is behind this door!"

The others got ready.

"On my mark. Three, two, one…"

With a thunderous crash, the doors were blasted open.

The room was empty, save for a cluster of machinery in the centre, and a hulking reptilian Titan between them and it.

And suddenly, everything around them came to life.

Magical traps deployed, raining crossbow bolts and magic blasts on them.

"Honourguard!" Lucas shouted, shielding his allies.

The Titans moved out, destroying the turrets, and leaving the Seekers to face Tyrant.

Midas began playing on his flute once more, summoning forth his Satyr Highguards once more.

The four Seekers protected each one using the field projected by the Zero Crystals.

The Satyrs greatly sped up the process of disabling the turrets.

Tyrant cracked his whip, striking two of the Satyr Highguards, as the four Seekers closed in on him.

The spikes broke off in the Satyrs, and began to glow red.

"Look out!" Dellix cried in alarm.

Lucas sucked in his breath.

"Dellix! Move close to them and pull out the spikes! Use your own crystal to protect them. The rest of you, don't interfere with Dellix! Come with me!"

They obeyed, and charged the Titan, as magic and bolts rained down around them.

"Bristlevine!" Lane called, trussing Tyrant up in vines.

Or so she thought.

With a minimum of effort, the Titan tore free from them (A/N Yes, Dante tried this move on Ymir in S1E07. Yes, it worked then. Yes, Tyrant is _that_ strong). Tyrant, who was frightfully agile for his size, lunged at her, his claws flashing.

"Ah! Lucas!" Lane cried out and cringed in feat, as Tyrant swiped at her.

"Solarstrike!" Lucas called, punching Tyrant's wrist and deflecting the blow.

"Kindlestrike!" he dazzled his opponent with a blast to the face.

Lane recovered, but before either could do anything, Tyrant swung again.

"Honourguard!" Lucas shouted, hugging Lane close to him with one hand and maintaining the shield with the other.

But it turned out to be unnecessary.

"NIMBLEFIRE!" Kevin roared, as he lunged towards the oncoming whip.

"DRAGONFIST!" he swung his two katanas, landing both of them at the same spot.

He cut cleanly through the whip. The severed section fell to the ground, missing Lucas and Lane.

"TOUCHRAM!" he called again, blasting the Titan in the face again and sending it tottering as he fell to the ground.

Lucas and Lane readied themselves.

"Lucas!" Kevin shouted, as he shifted to dodge a crossbow bolt.

"I think I know how we can bring this thing down! Just distract him!"

"Alright!" Lucas shouted back, then jumped aside as a bolt of magic exploded next to him.

Just then, Dellix had led the two re-liberated Satyrs around Tyrant, and they had hurled spears into gaps in its armour from behind.

The Titan roared at the pricks of pain, indignant at the fact that something had dared assail him.

He turned around to engage his attackers.

"Never mind!" Kevin shouted to Lucas.

"HYPERSTRIDE!" he launched himself into the air again, and a crossbow bolt struck the point he was standing at mere moments before.

The Tyrant swiped at Dellix and the Satyrs, but in vain.

He turned around just in time for Kevin to deliver his coup de grace right in his face.

"MINDBREAK!"

The yellow energies penetrated the very mind of the Titan as Kevin jumped over his shoulder, assailing him with all manner of nightmarish visions.

Kevin landed with a thump, smiling in self-satisfaction.

He looked at the Titan, expecting it to topple to the ground…

Except it didn't.

The Titan turned again, and kicked Kevin.

The surprised boy barely had enough time to throw up an Armourbrand, before Tyrant delivered a firm kick to him, sending him flying. The sheer force of the blow shattered his magic shield, and the razor claws on his feet shredded his armour, leaving the flesh beneath fortunately unscathed, but barely.

"The Professor's spell must have warded off the attack!" Lane realised.

Dellix and his now-disarmed Satyrs withdrew, as the first few waves of the other Professor-allied Titans in the Citadel closed in on them.

Midas sliced the last of the turret contraptions in the room to pieces, and joined his allies at the door, battling back the oncoming surge of Titans.

Tyrant turned about, clearly enraged. He advanced towards the boy, still gripping his stump of a whip.

_One last chance_, Kevin thought to himself, as the ground beneath him trembled with Tyrant's approach.

"SOULTHIEF!"

A lightly armoured pale humanoid with skulls on his shoulders and a red longsword, his mouth is covered with a black bandana, materialised.

"Soulthief," Lucas' Cypherdex intoned.

"Attack: 4. Defence: 3. Type: Draco-Titan Warrior. Special Abilities: Soul Drain."

The Titan dashed towards Tyrant, dodging the latter's strikes from his shortened whip, and jumped.

Soulthief delivered a powerful thrust into the seams between the Titan's armour, and purple energy began flowing from the Titan into his sword, and then into his body.

Tyrant's arms slackened. The whip dropped from his grip, and he began to fall backwards.

Soulthief struggled to absorb the energy flowing from Tyrant, as he planted his feet on the creature's abdomen to balance himself.

"Come on!" Kevin shouted as he got to his feet.

"HYPERSTRIDE!" he lunged into the air, next to his Titan, and planted his hands on him.

"POWERFLOW!"

The Titan glowed red, and the flow of purple grew ever more intense.

And finally, with a brilliant, dazzling flash, Tyrant disintegrated into nothing, and Soulthief returned to his amulet.

Kevin crumpled to the ground, exhausted.

His magical armour (or what remained of it) dissolved into nothing.

Lane and Lucas (who had been holding her since she was nearly turned to mincemeat) turned to the solitary red crystal that lay where Tyrant once stood.

The two ran over.

With a Kindlestrike, Lucas shattered the crystal.

The hum of the apparatus in the centre of the room died down.

"Lucas!" Dellix cried out in alarm, as the Titans attacked with renewed ferocity. So far it consisted mostly of Bellonas led by Dominators, though occasionally a Dark Dryad would show up and wreak havoc for a few seconds before being taken down by Giantkiller or Aethos.

Pellinore wrestled a shield out of the grip of a Bellona through complicated swordplay, and then disabled the Titan with a brutal hook. But he was subsequently nearly punched out by a Mirmidion, who was in turn disabled by Giantkiller.

"Finish what you need to do, and quickly!" Dellix shouted.

Lucas and Lane turned back to the crystal.

He turned to her, and she nodded.

"SHATTERCHARGE!" they called out simultaneously.

Iridiscent rainbow orbs drifted from their hands and attached themselves to the Command Amplifier.

They cast the spell a few more times, until the whole thing was glowing with rainbow colours.

Lane giggled (somewhat inappropriately given the situation) at the curious way in which the light interacted with the apparatus.

"Let's go!" Lucas ordered her.

Kevin had recovered and retrieved his katanas, and had just joined the fray when Lucas ordered them to pull back.

"SUNBURST!" he blasted the Titans away (while widening the doorway).

"Go! Go! Go!" he barked, as Lane and himself joined their teammates in running out of the room.

Kevin put away one of his katanas and summoned his Chronicler.

"Follow me! I've got this whole place mapped out."

What followed was an intense, blood-pumping escape through the labyrinth of the Citadel. The turrets had all been destroyed on their first run through, but now more and stronger Titans were swarming towards them from every turn, much like the race out of the factory earlier.

Thrilling as the chase was, it was largely uneventful. After a few minutes of running, the exhausted Seekers and Titans reached the entrance atrium with the original point of ingress.

Panting heavily, they headed out into the dark, empty plains around the Citadel (most of the Titans had gone in to assault them; some had been defeated, but quite a few were still running around inside).

But as Lucas stepped towards the exit, a hairy, goat-like arm suddenly emerged from around the wall.

Holding a long spear.

"Hurk—"

He fell to his knees, blood staining his shirt, and collapsed.

"LUCAS!" Lane screamed, falling to her knees herself beside her friend.

Seven Satyr Highguards ran out from behind the walls, pointing their spears at the Seekers and Titans, who formed a semi-circular perimeter around their fallen friend.

They were still within the walls of the Citadel (with any further advance being cut off by the Satyr Highguards).

The hostile Midas that Aethos had knocked out in the beginning stood behind his legion of Satyr Highguards.

The allied Midas stepped forth, indignation in his eyes.

The others backed off.

And just in time, too. The sounds of shouting and running were beginning to catch up with them.

The two Midas stared at each other, neither making a move, while the Satyr Highguards stood, ready to impale the allied Midas at their master's word.

And then, suddenly, there was an explosion of action.

The allied Midas dove towards the legs of the Satyr Highguard directly in front of him. He tried to stab at the allied Midas, but missed. Before he could get his spear out of the ground, the Midas had hit the ground, rolled, and popped up right in front of him, gutting him with his blade as he went and banishing him.

The others next to him assaulted him with their spears, but Midas ducked, and swung his blade backwards, catching both spears. He impaled the ground with the two weapons, and then dispatched their former users with two quick strokes from his blade.

He dove to the right as the others rushed him, and sprung to his feet, cutting down the two nearer Satyrs before they could turn.

The other two charged him, but he spun out of the way, letting them run past him. He decapitated the nearer one, and then stabbed the further one in the back.

In this time, the other Midas only managed to draw his sword and enter a battle stance.

Then the allied Midas produced his flute, and began to play.

The hostile Midas' eyes widened in fear as seven Satyr Highguards formed up behind his nemesis.

He turned tail and fled, as the allied Midas and his Satyrs charged.

The allied Midas pointed his blade forward, and the two Satyrs next to him jumped, throwing down their spears in an X in front of the hostile Midas.

He tried cutting the spears down, but it was no use. They were too sturdy.

He whirled about, hoping to be able to dispatch at least these two now-disarmed Satyrs. But as he swung his blade at one of them, he jumped back, as did the other disarmed Satyr.

Then another Satyr struck his blade with his spear, as the allied Midas caught up with him, delivering the coup de grace and knocking the weapon out of his hand altogether.

The hostile Midas, in a panic, turned to run. But he had forgotten all about the barrier the Satyrs had erected.

And before anything else could be done, the allied Midas touched him on the back.

"Lucas!" Lane sobbed.

She gently shook him.

"LUCAS!"

She calmed herself. This was not the time for hysterics. She was a Seeker. She could still heal him. She could still heal her friend. Her leader.

She searched her memory for a spell that would work on him.

"Earthheal (A/N New spell)!" she said, her voice regaining some degree of steadiness.

She placed her hands on his abdomen, and his body glowed green.

The grass beneath him withered as she drew the life force from the earth itself and channelled it into Lucas.

The wound began to heal itself, but slowly. The spear had penetrated quite deeply.

_Hope this works…_

"Findshape!" she cried.

Finally, the flesh began to knit itself together.

With the precise aid of the Earthheal spell, Lane was able to fully repair the damage Lucas had sustained.

Lucas got up.

"Lucas!" she cried, hugging him.

He hugged her back briefly, then got up.

"You're alright," she smiled at him.

He nodded.

"Look!" Dellix said to his teammates, pointing at the now obstruction-free doorway.

Aethos glid out of the building and projected a portal.

"Everyone, into the portal!" Lucas said, relatively quickly recovering psychologically from the trauma of nearly dying.

Aethos was the first to enter, followed by Midas, and then Lucas and Lane, and everyone else.

"Hurry!" Kallipolitan called, as Baselaird, the last of the group, ran up to the portal.

Lane lifted him up and in using Bubblelift, and Aethos sealed the portal, as the first Bellona nearly caught up with them.

They emerged near the boulder where they had begun this entire escapade.

The team emerged from the boulder, looking on on the small distant figure of the Citadel.

"Lane," he smiled at her, taking her hand.

They extended their hands towards the Citadel, and focused.

And then, the explosion.

The Professor's eyes snapped open.

_Something's wrong._

Then he realised what happened.

"NO!"

"Well, where do we go now?" Lane asked Lucas.

"To the rendezvous," he said, "in the Swara-Titan Region."

The Titans removed their crystals and returned them to the Seekers.

"I assume you won't be following us?" Lucas asked.

Kallipolitan nodded.

"It has been an honour to fight alongside such a noble and valiant team. But alas, our home – and our work – is here. We will continue to resist them, but our prayers will go with you as you go forth to face the foe behind all this."

Lucas bowed his head.

"I understand, sir. And it has been an honour, too. Fare thee well."

Kallipolitan nodded. "Fare thee well."

And so the Seekers went on, towards the Swara-Titan Region…and the inevitable confrontation.

**A/N Phew! Sorry for the late update. Producing a documentary is hard work.**

** Anyway, thanks for the ton of reviews in the last chapter! The more reviews I get, the more guilty I feel about not updating, and the faster I work! :)**

** Seriously, though, my exams are coming up, and some other things too. I will probably never abandon this fic (even though it is pretty hard work), but I may take quite a bit of time between updates. Sorry about that.**

**By the way, I didn't forget about Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia and Eathon. You'll find out what they were doing in the next chapter :).**


	10. Chapter 10: The Overlord's Keep

Chapter 10: The Overlord's Keep

_Swara-Titan Region  
A few days later_

Dante's footfalls were light as he patrolled about the rendezvous point. Lok, Sophie, Eathon, Zhalia and Cherit rested, their backs against the rocks within the patrol path. They were shielded from view by an illusion enchantment that Zhalia had placed.

He pulled out his Holotome, and glanced through the files John had stolen from the factory. And once more, he was reminded of the impending deadline that the Professor's minions had set for the activation of the Babel Enslaver.

_In little over an hour, the Professor would have an army that could easily take over the world. And we'd be stranded here, unable to stop him._

The Professor was genius, as he had come to appreciate once more. The Babel Enslaver was practically impervious to assault. The moment it was completed, he could use the nigh-unlimited power of Overlos to transport his newly-enslaved legions to Earth, and easily conquer it. With some of the world's most powerful and skilled Seekers (and their Titans) trapped in Huntik, the world would be powerless to resist the invasion force. The entire nuclear arsenal of the world could be destroyed in mere minutes with the power of Overlos, and conventional weapons would be useless against this many Titans. Certainly, the Foundation, the Order and the Casterwills would fight hard, but the only people to ever have actually defeated the Professor while he was in possession of the Legendary Titans of Mind, Body, Spirit and Immortality were stuck in Huntik, with no way back to Earth.

He sighed, gazing at his fiancée, as she napped lightly. It seemed like eternity since his fateful birthday party, when she had revealed her feelings for him, and furthermore promised to be bound by them forever. And he had accepted. He had promised to start a family with her, and to protect it with his life. But all that was beginning to look more like a faint, distant daydream. The Professor threatened to enslave the entirety of Earth's population. And he was about an hour away from success (a lot of time had been lost on travel and so forth). All that stood between him and that was a convoluted, implausible mess of a plan conjured by a 17-year-old.

For a moment, a mad thought crossed his mind.

_Let the Professor have the world. Let it burn. I'll stay here with Zhalia._

The temptation was obvious. Huntik was a beautiful and picturesque land. The odds were very heavily stacked against them stopping the Professor, and it was more than likely that one of them would die in the process. But they could just throw in the towel and stop playing the game. The Professor could have Earth; they would stay in Huntik, together with the people they loved.

But he shook the thought. It would be an insult to Zhalia's love for him to cower in a most emasculated manner in the face of evil. Especially given her particular history with this specific evil.

And at any rate, that sort of apathy was itself evil. He would not partake of it.

He spied movement in the distance, which broke him out of his ruminations.

He gently shook Lok awake.

"Lok, something's coming. Get ready to wake the others up."

Lok nodded his acknowledgement, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Dante moved quickly and stealthily. Even without the use of spells, he was able to get close enough to their visitors to identify them without them noticing him. He was, after all, a pro.

He heaved a sigh of relief. It was just John, Den, Viviane and Harrison.

He gave a two-thumbs-up signal to Lok, telling him that it was all clear.

Suddenly, John held up a hand, and looked around slowly.

_OK, maybe not _that_ stealthy._

"Augerfrost!" he sent a warning shot towards Dante.

Dante dodged, and stepped out into their view, holding up his hands as they pulled back their fists, preparing to blast him with their spells of choice.

"Well, welcome back," he smiled.

* * *

"The Professor's getting scared," John said, as he and his teammates feasted on the food Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia, Eathon and Cherit had stockpiled.

"Titans are moving everywhere, in every region, all heading here. And the countdown on the Babel Enslaver's about to finish. We'd better move quickly."

Dante nodded. "Little more than an hour before the Professor has an army large enough to take over the world with. And we won't be there to stop him."

"We won't let that happen," Eathon said firmly.

Lok stared ahead, a distant look in his eyes. He did not speak.

Sophie was the first to take notice.

"What's wrong, Lok?" she asked gently, moving closer to him.

"So, how does being back in the world-saving business feel?" Dante asked Den and Harrison, but his voice seemed distant to the two of them.

Lok sighed heavily. "It's just…I don't know, Sophie."

Sophie felt like she should kiss him, but he was facing away from her.

He continued, "This plan…the whole world hangs in the balance. If anything messes up…the world as we know it could end."

He turned to her.

"I know I'm supposed to be the Champion of the Casterwills. _Your _Champion. Your _hero_. But sometimes…like this…it feels like the whole world's on my shoulders."

He sighed dejectedly and gazed down, the discussion around them having died down. Lok and Sophie didn't seem to notice that everyone was looking at them.

John was tempted to cut in with a smart-ass remark about how the world really _was _counting on him, but the vestigial social consciousness that he had painfully acquired through trial and error panned out for once, and he kept his mouth shut.

Sophie couldn't bear to see him like this. She lifted his chin gently and kissed him for a long while, deeply and passionately.

"We're carrying it _together_, Lok. And anyway you stopped the Professor before. You can do it again."

Panic crept into his eyes. And the kiss hadn't eased his troubled expression either.

"No, Sophie!" he cried, his voice somewhat louder and more forceful than he appeared to have intended.

She jumped back, startled.

"There's so much that could go wrong," he said, more softly. "We barely managed to stop him the first time around when he had just the Titans he could summon. Now, he's got thousands of Titans crawling in his fortress, and even more going in as we speak!"

"But we've got many more Titans, including Powerbonded and Legendary ones," Den said.

"Yeah, and fighting all those Titans isn't so hard," Harrison said.

"Have a little faith," John flashed a smile. "You just need to not die for a few minutes at most, then I'll get the Babel Enslaver on our side. Trust me, I've got the whole plan in here," he tapped his skull.

Everyone eyed him suspiciously. They may not have had much knowledge of his track record with complex operations, but something told them scatter-brained nerd-boy messed up a lot more than he was letting on.

But the mask (if it was a mask) held; his smile never wavering.

"Oh, yeah," John said, breaking the mini-deadlock the conversation had fallen into, "uh, I think I'm pretty much full. So, uh, I was thinking, maybe I should go scan the Professor's fortress."

"That way," Lok pointed, still gloomy.

John summoned his Chronicler and scrambled out of the emotionally tense situation. He was not terribly missed.

Lok went back to staring dejectedly at his feet, drawing his knees up to his face.

"One small mistake, one accidental reveal, and that's it for the plan. Everything will have to go _perfectly_, or the world ends. And a plan like this probably isn't going to go perfectly."

She crawled on all fours from beside him to in front of him.

She moved her face close to his, smiling, and looked straight into his eyes. Her smile, which seemed to radiate through her grass-green eyes, compelled him to raise his head to meet her gaze, and it seemed to spread through his features too.

"But I'm glad that I've gotten the best team I could for this mission," he said, his expression slowly lighting up.

"You can do it, Lok. I know you can. I know you will."

And she kissed him again.

"And I'll always be here with you," she smiled.

Then she withdrew somewhat. But this time, he was left smiling.

"Now," she commanded, in a princess-y, ostensibly haughty, but actually playful, tone, "hold me, my hero."

His smile widened, and she snuggled up inside his arms. She pulled one arm around herself, hugged it tightly, and lay against his body. Lok himself rested on the rock behind him. Not the most comfortable place, but he was content to just hold his Casterwill princess, as she had requested.

A small smile crept onto Zhalia's lips, as she leaned back against a rock, sitting cross-legged. She studied the Casterwill girl (reading people was a skill/hobby that she had picked up under the tutelage of Klaus). The ladylike inhibitions proper to the Queen of the Casterwills seemed to have abandoned her, but she could hardly blame her. They were among informal company, after all. Eathon seemed to have come to terms with his son's interest in the girl, and the rest of them had quickly learnt to tolerate the sappy public displays of affection they insisted on subjecting them to. Though she wasn't so sure about Den and Viviane, who were off in their own corner. She could swear they were a mini Lok-and-Sophie couple.

Dante, however, was a more reserved lover, which was fine by her. She preferred to be quiet and distant, anyway, disdaining the touchy-feely, sentimental girlishness of the Casterwill Queen. But she vividly remembered his intensity during their romantic encounter above the waterways of Venice. And she _loved_ it. Though it seemed so far away…

She almost sighed, but she reined herself in. Lok and Sophie, and Den and Viviane, were teenagers. They needed this sort of overt emotion and affection. Her passion for Dante could be more discreet…

"What's on your mind, Zhalia?" came a familiar deep, masculine voice, from beside her.

Her heart skipped a beat.

_…but that doesn't mean it has to be._

She turned to the voice, and spent a few moments admiring the features of her handsome fiancé crouching next to her.

He smiled warmly, and her heart melted.

_Who am I kidding? I need his affection as much as Sophie needs Lok's._

"Come on, Zhalia. We're engaged. You can talk to me about any—"

She silenced him with a firm kiss on the lips.

He was surprised, but did not resist, and shortly thereafter began to reciprocate.

After a long while, they separated.

She smiled impishly at him, then took his hand and helped him up.

"I…really like kissing you," she explained lamely.

He smiled. "We should do that more often."

And, at an unspoken agreement, they resumed, with Zhalia throwing her arms around his neck, pulling him close, and Dante wrapping his arms around her waist.

Harrison looked at Eathon, who was staring at a rock. Thinking about his wife, most likely. He muttered in discontent and walked away from the smooching couples, examining the landscape to distract himself from the (increasingly pressing) issue of a lack of females to court.

Cherit flapped up to him, and perched on his shoulder.

"What's on your mind, lad?"

"Hey Cherit," Harrison said, his voice dull.

But before he could say anything, they heard John's voice.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen," John called, "we're good to…oh."

He sighed, and clapped his hands, drawing his teammates' attention away from their sweethearts.

"As I was saying, the other members of our detail have arrived," he said, his crisp British accent becoming more pronounced. Which generally meant that something bad had happened.

He gestured into the distance, directing their attention.

Sure enough, they could barely make out a handful of figures approaching. They guessed correctly that it was Lucas, Lane, Kevin and Dellix.

Cherit noticed John gripping his Chronicler so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"So, lad, what do the scans say?" he asked.

John grimaced.

"I'll save it for when they get here."

And then, to the rest of the Seekers, "And I hope you're all done with the snogging. As Mstr Lambert has observed, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. The Professor's defences are much better than anticipated. There isn't a second to lose."

* * *

Kevin, Lucas, Lane and Dellix ate in silence, as John briefed the group.

He set his Chronicler down on the ground, and it projected a large, revolving 3D hologram of the Professor's fortress.

"We have a few problems," he said.

"Firstly, the Professor seems to have learnt from his past mistakes. There are multiple, redundant, strong, permanent anti-teleportation and anti-illusion fields projected by apparatus within the structure, with a radius of about a klick."

Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia and Eathon exchanged panicked glances.

John continued, oblivious. "This closes off the methods of approach that would be advisable to avoid fighting the...hmm..."

John bent over to inspect a data readout on the Chronicler.

"...the 12,314 Titans, and counting, milling about the main entrance. The air is also swarming with 6,237 Titans, and counting, albeit over a far larger area. Which is the second problem. Moving into range will get us shredded to confetti. There are secondary turrets and walls all over the ground. Approaching on foot with anything less than an army is suicide. And there are turrets on the walls too, shooting both conventional ammo and magic-based projectiles. So approaching by air would get us perforated. And that's even before we get inside the Fortress proper, not taking into account the Titans inside, which number in the thousands, or the defences, our third issue. And then there's the little matter of the Professor himself."

John paused. For a while, the only sound they could hear was Kevin munching on an apple.

"Suggestions?"

The silence continued. Kevin took another bite out of the apple, and everyone stared at John. He was uncomfortable being the centre of attention, but he hid it well, both from them and himself.

Lok cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.

"Actually, this sorta messes up the plan."

He nodded to Zhalia, who dropped an illusion.

Materialising off to one side were two Titans, an Archwarder and a Dendras.

"We were getting these Titans while you guys were attacking the Citadels," Lok explained.

"The plan was supposed to be the same one we used to defeat the Professor the first time," Dante added, "except that we'd have two Dendrases, so we could trick the Professor into defeating one and thinking he was safe, but then we'd summon the other one, take control of Dendras, and finish this."

Zhalia continued, "We were supposed to cloak the Titans and sneak them in."

Eathon sighed, "But in the end all the secrecy was for nothing."

John thought for a few seconds, then snapped his fingers.

"That's simple enough," he said, pulling out two Zero Crystals.

"We can store the Titans in the crystals?"

"In short, yes, the crystals can be used as impromptu amulets. But the Titans won't be too happy about that."

"Why not?" asked Den.

"It's a bit like sleeping on a cave floor rather than on a bed," John said.

"Anyway," he continued, as he enchanted one of the crystals, "even if we solve this problem, we still need to get inside the Keep to do anything at all."

He pointed it at Dendras, who seemed to understand what he was doing, and the Titan entered the crystal, as though he had been defeated.

"Who's taking Dendras?"

Lok took the crystal from him.

"Alright, and Archwarder is for...?"

"Myself, I suppose," Dante said.

John nodded, "OK."

He put Archwarder in the crystal, and then passed it to Dante.

"Just use the crystals as you would any other amulet."

Then he turned back to the rest of the Seekers.

"And now, back to the original question. How do we get in?"

After a few seconds of silence, Lok walked up to the hologram.

"What's this?" he pointed to a tower within the grounds of the Keep, with a disproportionately-larger cylindrical segment on top.

There were three more, each between the centre of the Keep and its boundary in one of the cardinal directions. There was one more at each corner, making a total of eight.

"Ah," John said, "those. Well, just another one of the non-Titan defences the Keep has. They are basically swivel-mounted turrets that replicate the effect of the Rippleburst spell."

Upon closer inspection, they realised there was a barrel protruding from each cylindrical section.

"Those have a symmetrical 135-degree yaw arc (A/N Side to side) and a symmetrical 30-degree pitch arc (A/N Up and down). Three-second firing cycle. One shot should be enough to instantly kill a Legendary Titan."

Sophie gasped, but quickly closed her mouth. Her eyes burned with determination and anger.

"Yes, Ms Casterwill. The same spell which the Professor used to kill Sabriel."

Her eyes told that them that particular wrong was about to be redressed.

"And there's another one, in the centre. This one has a 360-degree yaw arc, a 135-degree pitch arc, 90 up and 45 down, and a six-second firing cycle, but the resulting blast could vaporise a modern aircraft carrier in one hit. Scans also tell me the Overlord Projector is immediately under it."

Lok was silent for a while, deep in thought.

"So, how tough are the towers?" he finally asked.

"Hollow, and integrated with the rest of the Keep. A gun that big _has_ to be manned. Er, Titaned. And maintenance, too. But the walls are still a few metres thick."

"The turrets on top?"

"About 50% thicker."

"And if the turrets get destroyed?"

"They explode, of course. Violently."

Lok smiled, somewhat crazily.

"I think I have a plan."

* * *

"Stay safe," Lok told Sophie, before gently kissing the top of her head.

"I will," she promised him, gazing into his eyes.

"Hurry up, Lok, before I regain my sanity!" John said.

Lok reluctantly turned away from his girlfriend.

_It's like her features are burnt into my mind_, he thought, still somewhat giddy after noticing how beautiful his girlfriend was for the thousandth time._ I could look into that pretty face forever, staring into those gorgeous eyes, seeing everything that she is to me..._

He shook his head. He had to focus.

He walked towards Pendragon. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed to fit the entire company of Seekers onto Phoenix and Pendragon. Those unsure of their balance (i.e. everyone) had Stopglued themselves to the Titans. Kevin had practically mummified himself in the substance.

Sadly, the plan meant that Lok and Sophie had to be separated.

_Do this well. Do it for Sophie. Do it for the world_, Lok told himself, as he mounted his Titan, and Stopglued himself to him.

The Legendary Titans of Champions and Rebirth spread their wings.

"Good afternoon, this is your captain speaking," Lok said, smiling with a mix of mischief and insanity.

"The plan is simple. Block attacks, shoot enemy Titans, don't die. Leave the rest to Sophie and me."

He checked one last time that he had given Pendragon immunity to the Professor's mind-control with his Zero Crystal.

And the Titans took flight, with their cargo of Seekers.

* * *

Sophie could almost hear _Ride of the Valkyries_ as she and her boyfriend swooped towards the Professor's Keep. No illusions. No teleportation. No tricks. They were literally charging in, (figurative) guns blazing.

The Titans down below must have found the whole thing comical. They numbered in the thousands, and a mere handful of them could decide the rise and fall of empires. What could a mere dozen or so humans hope to achieve?

Quite a lot, actually.

As a few of the flying Titans closed in to deal with the obviously insane annoyances, they came to appreciate that fact.

Phoenix surrounded herself with a wall of flame, taking quite a few of their attackers out of commission, while Pendragon swept his head from side to side, projecting an energy beam as he went and felling many of the fliers.

The Seekers mopped up the rest with their spells.

The Titan mass began to realise that the threat that faced them was less trivial than they had thought.

Slowly, the fliers began moving en masse towards the rapidly approaching attackers.

Sophie wondered what was going through the Professor's head at this point, because he had obviously taken notice: the Rippleburst cannons were coming to life.

"LOK!" she called to her boyfriend.

"LOOK OUT! THE CANNONS!"

He turned to her and nodded his acknowledgement.

And not a second too soon: he swerved just in time to avoid the ravening beam of death from the cannon that they were making a beeline towards. She thought she saw Kevin's face turn green from the sharpness of the manoeuvre.

And then the central Rippleburst cannon fired, the tower-mounted one firing simultaneously.

The tower's beam missed them completely, but Sophie barely managed to climb over the heavier beam.

They were moving so fast that the sound of it impacting the Swara-Titan Region sands was more like a distant rumble of thunder than anything.

But as the Seekers ploughed into the Titan mass (Pendragon took a chomp out of an unfortunate Icarus, while a Sunhawk that scraped against Phoenix burst into flames), Lok and Sophie rolled out the heavy weaponry of their own.

Pendragon exhaled, and the hail of energy swords cut down countless fliers. Even those that missed struck down the Titans beneath.

"Yes!" John cheered, blasting a stray Midnight Rook out of the sky with an Augerfrost while Stopglued to Pendragon's side.

Then the Rippleburst cannon on the tower blasted at them again. Lok avoided the beam, and Kevin spewed something green and decidedly non-magical onto the Titans beneath.

A Gar-Ghoul actually dared to attempt a direct assault on Phoenix. But Sophie gracefully manoeuvred out of the way of the jet of water, and a forceful flap of Phoenix's wing unleashed a wave of flame that scorched the Gar-Ghoul and some other nearby fliers.

Then Phoenix unleashed her wall of flame again, barbecuing a far larger number of Titans this time.

The cannons fired in sync again, but Sophie easily avoided the shot. She was starting to get familiar with the rhythm of the incoming beams.

"Honourguard!" Lucas blocked a blast of frost from a Nordrake as Phoenix sped past him. He thought he saw one of the flame eddies Phoenix left in her wake singeing the Titan.

The cloud of hostile Titans closed in like a swarm of bees, as Pendragon exhaled his energy swords again, bringing many more down this time. But overall, they had barely dented the ranks of their attackers; the Titans still numbered in the thousands, and were closing in rapidly on them.

Then, from behind the Titan hordes, came a brilliant flash of yellow light.

A few seconds later, there were two flashes, one far more brilliant than the other.

And the Titans started falling.

Den laughed, as he warded off a stray shot from something beneath them with an Armourbrand.

"They're shooting their own Titans!"

It was true. The blasts had opened a very convenient hole in the tightening swarm of hostile Titans.

And Sophie realised what she needed to do.

"LOK!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"FOLLOW ME!"

"OK!" he hollered back.

Sophie mentally urged her Titan on, steering her into the closing gap in the formation of hostile Titans.

"Lane! Where's Lok?"

"Close by!" she shouted back.

_Good enough._

With a final push, she sent Phoenix through the growing mob of monsters.

And then she unleashed the wall of fire (making sure, of course, to avoid incinerating Pendragon and her boyfriend).

The effect was catastrophic, to say the least. Hundreds of Titans taken out, and the rest thrown into utter chaos and panic.

It was shortly after passing through the cloud of Titans that the beam hit Phoenix.

Phoenix reared upwards of her own volition, letting her breast take the full brunt of the attack. Fortunately, this was the beam from the tower, so she managed to contain the blast with her own body. Unfortunately, the destructive yellow energies were more than enough to reduce her to a handful of dust.

"SOPHIE!" Lok's anguished scream seemed to fade as she fell.

For a moment, her mind went blank.

Sophie Casterwill, Leader of the Casterwill Family, was absolutely clueless as to what to do. For a while, her mind didn't even comprehend what had happened.

And then, it hit her.

_Phoenix. Dead._

_ Seekers falling._

And then, it hit her.

The Icarus, that is. By pure (bad) luck, there happened to be one in the way. But she pushed it aside, took it out of commission with a somewhat absent-minded Boltflare, and focused her vast reservoir of brainpower on the task at hand.

"SOPHIE!" Lok screamed again.

He turned to Cherit, who was flapping around beside him.

"We have to help her!" he turned Pendragon around.

"No, m'boy! Look!" Cherit rasped.

Sophie's hands were extended. She called out something, and the biggest bubble he had ever seen materialised a few metres beneath her. It began to drift up to her.

The ashes in the bubble slid to the bottom, and Sophie released control of it once it was at eye level with her.

To her dismay (and increasing panic), gathering the ashes together seemed to have absolutely no effect.

She had no time to be shocked, though. If she didn't act soon, people (including herself) were going to start going splat.

_Light the ashes_, a part of her said.

She blinked.

_Light the ashes._

She could conjure a Boltflare, but the turbulent conditions might cause an explosion and scatter the ashes again, or the ashes could magical and only light-able from an actual flame. There was only one spell she was assured would do the trick, but she'd never tried it before. Only seen it used. Against her. By Kiel, the murderer of her parents.

She breathed deeply, and glanced above her.

Lok was descending towards her. The panicky concern in his sweet, familiar blue eyes stirred up warm and fuzzy feelings inside her.

_I've got this. Lok's here for me._

She breathed deeply again. The ground, which was incidentally swarming with hostile Titans, grew ever closer.

"ENDERFLAME!"

A gout of purple fire erupted from her hands, and she almost yelped in terror. Bonding with Phoenix had helped her conquer her fear of fire, but having it come forth from her own hands was a different matter altogether.

The ashes, as predicted, ignited. The flames changed from regal purple to the more normal crimson, and the blaze rapidly grew.

In no time at all, Phoenix was fully regenerated.

Sophie caught on to her tail, and wriggled along her body to her regular seat on Phoenix as she swooped around with blazing speed, rescuing her passengers, and letting Sophie Stopglue them to her.

Fortunately, they were close enough to both the ground and the tower to be outside its firing arc, so there was temporary reprieve from the barrages as Phoenix recovered her passengers.

As Sophie secured Viviane, the last of the passengers, to Phoenix, Lok shouted, "Come on!"

She followed his lead.

There was just enough space for the Titans to climb such that they would fly over the walls, and end up right in front of the tower.

Just as Lok had planned.

The cannon began powering up, but there was no time. Phoenix launched a white-hot burst of fire at the cylindrical turret segment atop the tower, and it exploded. The blast and the tongues of flame weren't enough to break through it, but they weakened it enough for Pendragon's follow-up blast to punch right through it.

John's eyes widened.

"DIVE!" he screamed maniacally.

The two Titans dropped straight towards the ground (or rather, the roof of the lower sections of the Keep), as a cataclysmic explosion demolished the top half of the tower in a brilliant flash of yellow light.

And then came the heavy beam.

Fortunately, the two Titans managed to turn a tight loop and avoid it, letting it demolish part of the Keep instead.

The cannon fired again, to further humorous effect: they easily dodged it, and it blew out part of the fortress walls from the inside.

Lok imagined the Professor force-choking whichever poor soul operated the cannon, a la Darth Vader, as the Titans touched down inside the ruined Rippleburst cannon tower on the ground floor.

Lok and Sophie dismounted, and the moment he laid eyes on her, his mood changed altogether. He ran towards her, and the lump of regret, fear, concern and shame that had formed in his gut as he helplessly watched his girlfriend falling to her death turned white-hot once more.

He threw his arms around her, and squeezed her so tight that she could feel his heartbeat.

The moment was too tender for the other Seekers, despite being Stopglued to the Titans, to protest.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed gently into her hair.

"I shouldn't have put you in danger, Sophie. I should've been there for you, by your side. But you...I almost let you die..."

His speech disintegrated into tears.

"I'm a terrible boyfriend," he sobbed. "I'm supposed to be your champion, your knight, your hero. But I can't even keep you safe! You were falling to your death, and I wasn't there for you!"

She pulled away slightly from him. He initially resisted, then he loosened his grip on her just enough for her to withdraw and look into his eyes.

And she kissed him.

And, for a moment, their surroundings dissolved, as did the lump of emotions in Lok's gut.

She loved him. That was all that mattered. He had failed to protect her, but she forgave him. That's all he needed.

The Professor himself could have smashed down the door, (metaphorical) guns blazing, and neither would have cared.

_Wait. I_ would, Lok realised.

He'd messed up once. He wasn't going to do it again.

They separated, but she gave him that sweet, understanding smile which was becoming increasingly familiar and endearing.

_Actually, never mind. That can wait_, he thought, as he dove into the lips of the girl he loved more than anything or anyone in the world once more.

After a long, pleasant, while, they pulled away from each other.

"I'll never leave you again," Lok told her. "I promise."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it, Lok. I forgive you. I trust you. And I'll always love you."

They kissed passionately one last time, before Eathon started clearing his throat rather forcefully.

The two got to work freeing their friends, but they did not return their Titans to their amulets. The final confrontation loomed; they would need every Titan at their disposal.

Eathon, the last to be freed, peeled the remaining pieces of the gloopy glue off himself.

He looked like he was about to say something, but then a cacophonous noise started echoing down the tower, steadily growing louder.

"The flying Titans are here," he realised.

"Let's go!" he started jogging towards the door.

Phoenix and Pendragon, as well as the seekers, complied, as various projectiles began raining down from above.

Pendragon blasted down the door with one mighty breath, also knocking out an unfortunate Freelancer behind it, as they streamed into the corridor.

Phoenix was clearly uncomfortable in the constricted corridor, but her mistress stroked her gently, her soothing touch calming her down.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked her boyfriend as they ran down the corridor.

"Simple. Make a beeline for the centre of the Keep. With a gun this big," he patted Pendragon's back affectionately as he exhaled another mighty beam, smashing down the wall and blasting a handful of Titans into oblivion, "we can just ignore the walls."

The shouts and animal noises echoing through the corridors grew louder. The Titans were closing in.

A Dominator scuttled down the corridor, murder in his eyes, but Phoenix discouraged him from advancing with a flap of her wing, sending a wave of flame towards him.

And that was the standard operating procedure for the team as they wreaked havoc on the Professor's fortress. If Pendragon didn't laser it into oblivion, and Phoenix didn't barbeque it, it was dispatched with spells from the Seekers.

John produced his Chronicler.

"Come on, guys! We've only got about ten minutes before the Babel Enslaver comes online!"

Finally, they came to an atrium swarming with Titans (who were promptly obliterated by the flames and energy from the two Legendary Titans).

John consulted the schematics of the Keep.

"So, this is it then," he said to no-one in particular.

"Lok, tell Pendragon to blast a hole...right...about...there," he pointed to a spot overhead.

Lok complied.

John sighed heavily, as he shut his device.

"The Professor's in there," he gestured to a grand set of double doors.

"_Dominus vobiscum_," he nodded at his friends.

And with a Hyperstride, he bounded through the ceiling.

The cacophony of Titans outside grew louder, and something snarled behind them.

Dante turned quickly and caught the incoming Dervish with a Kindlestrike.

"We have to go. Now," Eathon said.

No-one objected.

A single blast from Pendragon reduced the doors to splinters.

The Seekers rushed in, only to find themselves facing hundreds of Titans.

They readied their spells. The patterns of combat were growing familiar.

But the Titans did not attack.

"So, you made it here alive."

Eathon's blood turned to icy acid at the familiar voice.

He raised his head, and met the eyes of Simon Judeau, the Professor, who stood upon a ledge one storey above him. He was flanked by Tao and Behemoth, and Araknos stood behind him, with Overlos behind Araknos. The Amulet of Will hung around the Professor's neck, and Dante spotted the three rings on his fingers.

"Simon," he spoke the name calmly and emotionlessly.

"Hello, Eathon," he spat the word with venom.

Eathon's eyes dampened against his will.

"Why?" he asked, unable to keep the pain out of his voice.

"How could you go from a sentinel of things past to a tyrant trying to bend everything to his will?"

The Professor cackled viciously.

Harrison noticed Titans streaming in from behind them, but they did not attack.

"Do you really believe the past is of any value whatsoever? It is a means to an end, Eathon. This," he spread his arms wide, "is the means, the only part of history worth preserving! The folly of the modern age was in not realising that _this_ is _true_ power! With all of this, _I AM A GOD_! And I will take my rightful place on Earth as one!"

Eathon's expression hardened.

"How could you betray everything we fought for, Eathon? You were my friend!"

He choked back tears, "You fought by my side!"

"And I treated you fairly. I realised what we could do with the power of antiquity at our disposal. We could _control the world_! We could do whatever we wanted with it, and no-one would be able to stop us! I _offered _you the chance to stand by my side as ruler of the world."

"You offered me the chance to be your dog!"

Anger burned in the Professor's eyes.

"And so you shall die like one! OVERLOS!"

From the crystal at the top of his staff, Overlos projected a white beam of raw power.

It moved blazingly fast, striking Eathon and sending him to the ground before anyone could react.

"DAD!" Lok screamed.

"Mr Lambert!" Sophie gasped.

"Eathon!" Dante cried.

"One last chance," the Professor sneered, as Araknos spewed long threads of silk towards them.

"ENDERFLAME!" Sophie snarled, igniting the threads with a wave of her hand.

"After what you did to Sabriel!?"

"And what you did to my Dad?" Lok shouted.

The Professor smiled in bemusement.

"You cannot hope to stop me, Lok Lambert. I can kill you in the blink of an eye. But there's no fun in that. Perhaps it would be more entertaining to watch you drown in a sea of monsters," he smiled cruelly.

The Seekers formed a circle around Eathon (who, Lane informed them, was still alive, but barely) and readied their own amulets, while Kevin, Dellix and Lok drew their swords (and Cherit tended to Eathon).

And the Titans charged.

* * *

As John emerged from his makeshift "maintenance" chute, he did not expect to see a Dominator slammed into the wall next to him by a lance of miasma.

Nor did he expect to hear the pitiful, weakening cries of a Magemason as its life-force was drained from it by a Nullord.

The Titan turned his featureless gaze towards him.

"_We meet again._"

He realised that this was the same Nullord he had battled in the manufactory.

"You..."

The Nullord emitted a sound that had no appropriate descriptor in the English language, but that was obviously meant to take the place of laughter.

It was terrifying.

"_Did you really think your little trick killed me? How stupid do you think I am? Did you think I wouldn't see?_"

John drew his sword. It trembled in his grip.

"But y-you work for the Professor..."

The Nullord "laughed" again.

"_You are truly a feeble-minded specimen of your species. What my brothers can do, I can too. Miasma is a powerful force, boy._"

Understanding dawned upon him.

_The miasma enchantment. The Nullord had been faking it all the while._

"Wh-what are you going to do?"

If the Nullord had features, they would be contorted into the creepiest smile in existence.

"_Miasma is a powerful force._"

Suddenly, it all clicked together.

_Of course. The Overlord Projector amplifies the Professor's will. A miasma hack would allow it to amplify someone else's. Like the Nullord's._

John never had a very good innate sense of time, but he knew he only had a few minutes before the Babel Enslaver came online.

_And I have to defeat a Nullord._

He flourished his blade, trying to reassure himself, while signalling a challenge to Nullord.

The Nullord "smiled" again.

"_So be it._"

"Lightgauntlet! Flowrun!"

John charged the Titan, as the purple orbs of miasma in his hands extended into long whips.

"_I'm ready for you._"

* * *

The battle was chaotic, to say the least.

By far, the heaviest hitter was Pendragon. His Sword Breath took out droves of the Titans, and his regular beam attack scattered them like leaves in a cyclone.

Phoenix didn't slack off either. Her waves and missiles of flame shattered the ranks of the aggressors, and her flame wall proved incredibly useful for occasionally incinerating all hostiles within a certain range.

Quetzalcoatl and Mythras bathed their opponents in destructive energy, with the latter releasing the occasional inspiring roar, rallying the Seekers and their Titans, and taking swathes out of commission with his mighty pawstrokes.

The Professor laughed.

"Fight all you want! This army can't be destroyed!"

It was true. As big of a dent as they were making in the Professor's hordes, they were still fighting _several thousand _Titans. Powerful as they were, they were hopelessly outnumbered. And that's just assuming the Professor hadn't opened the front door, letting _every Titan in Huntik under his control _enter.

"So what's the plan?" Dante asked Lok through gritted teeth as he grappled (and disabled) a Redcap.

"I'll summon the fake Dendras," Lok said, panting heavily, as he fenced with a Shadow Agent.

With a powerful downwards-diagonal stroke, he pushed the Titan's axe to the ground, and socked him in the face with a Dragonfist, knocking him out.

"The Professor banishes him, and you wait for John to do his thing," Lok said, parrying a Dominator's swipe, dodging the swipe from its other hand, and sending it flying with a Touchram.

"I go up to Overlos," he swung his sword, blasting an Enforcer out of the sky.

"Then you get out the disruption pulse," he blasted another.

"I take control of him," he blasted yet another.

"And we save the world," he said, sidestepping the blow from a Doom Warden's key and striking said Titan with his sword.

"Well," Dante jumped aside, avoiding a Venomaster's swipe.

"John had better hurry up!" he blasted it with a Touchram.

* * *

John was trying his darndest, but it was all he could do to avoid an ignominious mutilation at the hands of Nullord.

John had easily dodged one of the Nullord's whips, deflected the other with the thick blue light that surrounded his arms, and closed in for the kill.

But the Nullord had a few more tricks up his sleeve. The whips contracted into blades, and he effortlessly parried John's sword strike with one. John ducked under the other, and moved out of range.

The Nullord moved his hands closer together, focusing miasma into an orb.

John tumbled out of the way as the lance smashed a hole in the wall behind him.

He recovered just in time to see the Nullord form another miasma orb, this one spraying small globes of miasma like a machinegun. He instinctively realised that it would probably be very bad for his health to touch them.

John ducked behind a computer terminal, which the Nullord machinegunned into oblivion.

He wasn't sure how the Professor would react to that. But then again the Professor would already be plenty mad at the Nullord's treachery, whether the terminal was intact or not.

John ducked behind another, and this time the Nullord hastened the process by blasting the thing with a miasma rocket, blowing it to smithereens.

John reacted with blinding speed. With a Hyperstride, he vaulted over the smoking remnants of the computer terminal.

The Nullord fired a miasma projectile at him, but it missed. It contacted the roof, and sent magical shrapnel everywhere.

But John was moving too quickly to be hit. As he fell, he slashed the Nullord across the...whatever it was he had in place of a face.

The Titan cringed in pain, gripping the wound, but John didn't let up. He stabbed him in the gut and slashed him diagonally across the torso.

That last blow sent the Titan to the ground.

He held his hand over his head.

"Darksl—"

The Titan raised his hands, and a conical, shotgun-like blast of miasma hit John, sending him flying.

His sword slipped from his grip, rattling as it skidded across the floor.

The Nullord sent a snake of miasma towards him, and he barely managed to roll aside and dodge it in time.

John forced himself to his feet, facing his opponent.

He immediately regretted his decision.

Looking into the wounds he had inflicted on the Titan was like staring into the eyes of the Grim Reaper. It was impossible to describe the dread that filled him, but even worse was the sheer apathy that possessed certain parts of him. It was as though those parts of his mind and body were shutting down, reverting to brute matter and disobeying his will.

The Titan lifted off the ground, a stream of fire beneath him.

He put his hands together, and the miasma coalesced into a sword.

Wordlessly, he rocketed towards his opponent.

John snapped himself out of it and dove to the side, which landed him conveniently close to his weapon.

He grabbed it, sat up partway, and parried the sword stroke of the Nullord as he lunged at him again.

The Nullord pushed against John's sword, forcing him to the ground, until he was on top of him (but still inexplicably floating, even though his jet of flames was now perpendicular to gravity)

John looked away from the wound.

"_Turn. Gaze into the eternal Nothing. Embrace the absurd, Seeker. There is no meaning. There is only chaos._"

Somehow, this bizarre nihilism gave John the strength to push the Nullord off of him.

John rushed the Titan, steel in his eyes.

"I live to fight chaos," John growled. The sight of the Titan's wounds ceased to have any effect on him.

Nullord swung his blade at John, but with a Spellparry, John deflected it out of his hands.

And then, he placed his free hand on the Titan's face, as he attempted to raise his hands to defend himself.

"Darksleep."

John opened up the Overlord Projector, and took a deep breath.

_All of it comes down to this._

He had lost track of time during the fight, and could only peg down the activation of the Babel Enslaver to "soon". He didn't have the time to consult the schematics, but fortunately he didn't need to: he had the entire plan memorised.

His hands worked deftly (for once), quickly disassembling the mechanical components that prevented access to the enchanted components, where the real...er...magic happens.

He fished out the crystal from his pocket that held the purification energies from Xuanwu that he needed to feed into the system.

He took another deep breath, calming himself down. He was bathed in sweat, hot and cold; the former from the fight and everything before it, the latter from the sheer concentration he poured into his work.

But that was the _easy_ part.

He put his hands on the enchanted component, and cleared his mind. He felt for the energy in the components, sensing their flow patterns, mapping out their connections and relationships, slowly building his image of the entire enchantment. It was a complex system, but he was able to grasp it.

He made the small, precise tweaks that were needed, and put the crystal on the component.

Nothing happened.

And then, a wave of gold light washed over him.

* * *

Dante was just starting to grow tired of knocking out Titans when everything flashed golden.

The fighting abruptly died down.

The Professor, who had up till then been watching with sadistic glee as the Seekers fought to the death, stood up in alarm.

"What's going on?" he roared.

Every Titan in the room turned to face him.

_Uh oh_.

The entire contingent of Titans began charging the Professor en masse.

"NO! STOP!" he commanded them, and reached through the Overlord Projector into each of their minds.

It was like reaching down to scratch your leg, only to find nothing there.

The Professor's eyes widened in shock as the Titans rushed towards him.

He pulled out every last one of his amulets.

"TITANS! TO ME! FIGHT THEM OFF!"

Against a single Seeker, the host of Titans the Professor conjured might have posed a credible threat. But against a legion of thousands? They didn't even blink.

"Lok! The plan!" Sophie shouted to her boyfriend.

Lok looked at Dante, and they both nodded.

"Sophie, tell everyone to send their Titans back to their amulets, and take my Dad someplace safe."

She nodded, and Lok and Dante joined the charge of Titans.

The torrent of projectiles the Titans unleashed sent the Professor's Titans back to their amulets almost as soon as they emerged from them. Trapfeaster held out a little longer, and managed to eat a couple of physical projectiles, but succumbed quickly too.

Only the Legendary Titans held the line. And they held it well.

The Professor had his own laser of doom too: Tao. Behemoth waded through the Titans, sweeping his fists through the crowd and sending them flying. Araknos couldn't do much though; the battlefield was too chaotic for its threads to last more than a few seconds.

"OVERLOS! DESTROY THEM!"

The Legendary Titan levelled his staff at the Titans, and unleashed a wave of pure white energy, which sent at least a thousand to the ground, dead or unconscious.

"We have to do something!" Lok cried.

"It's your show, Lok," Dante said, "I'm just here to back you up."

"Then let's go!"

"Hyperstride!" Lok bounded up to the ledge the Professor was standing on. He was too wrapped up in avoiding death by Titan stampede to care. He had noticed, but it wasn't like anything the boy did could pose a credible threat to him, right? A single beam from Overlos would kill him.

So the Professor ignored him as he advanced towards Overlos.

"Bring it on! DENDRAS! BASELAIRD!"

The puppeteer and the warrior materialised.

The Professor nearly doubled over in surprise upon hearing Dendras' name.

He whirled around, checking if it was a hoax.

He turned pale when he realised the Titan was really there.

"IMPOSSIBLE! I saw that Titan banished with my own eyes!"

"Well, I brought a spare," Lok smiled cockily.

Then, to his Titans, "Now! Dendras! Baselaird! JOIN FORCES!"

The dragons clamped on Overlos' fingers, and their strings glowed blue.

"NO! NOT AGAIN!" the Professor screamed, seeming more like a wailing, impotent child than a god.

"Dendras! Don't give up! Keep going!" Lok cheered his Titan on.

"ARAKNOS! BEHEMOTH! TAO! ATTACK LOK LAMBERT!"

"Looks like it's about time," Dante said. "Last chance..." he pulled out the Zero Crystal.

"Turn the tide!" Dante called, "ARCHWARDER!"

The plantlike Titan materialised in front of Dante.

"Quickly! Disruption pulse!"

Waves of brilliant white light washed over the Seekers.

The Professor realised that the Amulet of Will, and the rings of the Legendary Titans, were crackling with white lightning.

"No! NO!"

"Overlos!" Lok shouted up to the Titan.

He lowered his head to look at Lok.

"The Legendary Titans of Mind, Body and Spirit are too powerful to be useable by humans! Separate them from their rings! And leave the Amulet of Will!"

The Professor, realising that screaming "NO!" wasn't going to do anything, grabbed a Kilthane's sword that had somehow ended up on the ledge.

"YOU WILL DIE, LOK LAMBERT!"

He launched a Rippleburst at the boy, who sidestepped the attack, then charged him, even as he sensed Overlos obeying Lok's commands.

"RAAAAARGH!" he screamed in pure rage, slashing at Lok.

Lok, with practiced mastery of his blade, parried the attack, even as he saw the rings on the Professor's fingers, and the amulet around his neck, glow white. The rings fell to the ground, and the Behemoth, Tao and Araknos stopped attacking.

He dodged the Professor's next swipe, and deftly yanked the Amulet of Will off his neck. He evaded the next stroke with a roll, and swept up the rings with a single movement of his hand.

"Now, punch a hole back to Earth! Take only the Seekers!"

Overlos tapped the point of his staff against the wall. A swirling portal materialised, rapidly expanded, and began drawing the seekers (including the still-unconscious Eathon) towards it.

"Drop Archwarder's crystal!" he told Dante.

His mentor understood, and Lok himself dropped the new Dendras' crystal.

"WHAT!? NO! NO!" the Professor screamed in protest, as he was lifted off his feet.

"Hey! Wait for me!" John shouted as he scrambled into the room.

The power of the portal took hold, and he was lifted through the air straight towards it.

"JOHN! FREE ARCHWARDER AND DENDRAS!" Lok gestured to the crystals on the ground, as he went through the portal.

"OK!" John shouted.

"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! _NOT AGAIN_!" the Professor grabbed hold of a computer terminal.

He stubbornly resisted as John, the last of the other Seekers, went through the portal to Earth, casting a quick Formbreak to free the two Titans in the Zero Crystals as he went. But the Professor clung on to some desperate hope of salvaging his empire and being recognised as the god that he supposedly was.

"NO! AAAAARGH!" he screamed, as he was torn from the computer terminal and sucked through the portal, which promptly shut.

_To be continued..._

**A/N Try watching the final battle with the Professor from the series, and then re-reading this bit.**

** Anyway, that's it for the Huntik-arc! Now we get back to (MOAR) sappy romance and thwarting the Blood Spirals! After my exams, that is.**


	11. Chapter 11: Home Sweet Home

Chapter 11: Home Sweet Home

**A/N The original chapter title was "See the Conquering Heroes Come" but that was too long for the site :(**

_Huntik International HQ  
New York City, USA_

"I'm afraid, Mrs. Lambert," Klaus said (A/N For those confused about why Klaus is with the Foundation, see Pater Meus, written by me), "that I can only conclude that your son is dead."

Sandra covered her mouth in shock.

"It was difficult to analyse the scene, with the human press swarming all over it, but we finally managed to get it done. There are no two-ways about it. Lok Lambert is dead."

He spoke the last word with a note of finality.

Sandra sobbed heavily, as a girl tried to comfort her.

"Are you sure about this?" the girl asked.

"Positively," Klaus said grimly. "In much the same way that a nuclear reactor is just a controlled release of the energy that could level an entire city, the energy within the Stonehenge was designed to amplify a Seeker's power and direct it in such a manner that even a controlled release could penetrate the barrier between worlds. But when the process was destabilised…the resulting energy release would have disintegrated them."

Sandra's sobs grew more intense. The girl produced a small box of tissues for her.

"I am sorry for your loss," Klaus said. "I, too, have lost a child to this incident. It is a truly despairing thought: that they were taken from us, not in an epic struggle against chaos, but in a mere flash of light. But at least they have ended the threat of the Blood Spirals and ensured that the Nullifiers can never return to Earth. A noble and worthy sacrifice."

She blew her nose and handed the soiled tissue to the girl, who duly disposed of it.

"I-I suppose there's nothing we can do about it now," she said to Klaus.

The man nodded gravely.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"Thank you," she sniffed.

Sandra turned to the girl.

"And thank you very much, young lady. But, might I ask...who are you? I don't seem to recall seeing you around."

The girl did a little curtsey.

"Renee Adams, ma'am. Ordo Quaesitorum."

She was still getting used to that. For the first time since their founding, Order operatives were permitted to speak of their existence to outsiders, in order (no pun intended) to help counter the Spiral threat.

"Foundation and Order researcher. Two of my friends were with your son when this happened."

She was troubled; according to Klaus, John and Kevin would be the first members of the Order of the Seekers to die in the field in just about forever (research tends to have a very low workplace fatality rate). And the cover stories they would have to push would be a lot more elaborate than the one Mrs. Lambert would have to give her daughter, and not just because the Seeker Prior Cardinal Girelli was (not without reason) very strict about the rule against lying.

Suddenly, a sensor on the table started beeping.

Klaus' eyes widened.

"Move!" he shouted.

Renee and Sandra scrambled towards the door, Klaus following behind.

"What's going on?" Renee asked.

Then, she felt it.

The tingle of electricity on her skin.

The fabric of spacetime bending and distorting.

And a swirling portal came into being on the wall.

Klaus stood in front of the women, arms spread, his paternal instincts kicking into action.

Lok came through the portal first, followed by Dante.

Sandra's eyes widened.

"LOK!" she cried, clearly immensely relieved.

She rushed forward to hug her son, as the other Seekers poured through.

"Hello, Sandra," came a familiar voice.

Her heart did a little gymnastics routine.

She scarcely dared to raise her head, and meet the eyes of...

"Eathon," she said, her voice trembling with emotion.

"EATHON!" she cried, throwing her arms around her husband.

They held each other for a long, long while.

They finally separated.

"It's been a long, long time, Sandra," Eathon said, kissing his wife.

"I know," she said, tearing up.

"There's a lot that we need to talk about. You, me, Lok...maybe even Cathy. I've seen things in Huntik...important things."

Sandra nodded.

"Zhalia!" Klaus cried

"Klaus!" Zhalia gasped.

She still hadn't gotten used to seeing him around.

Klaus embraced the woman that he had raised as his own.

"My dear Zhalia, I'd thought I'd lost you," he said, genuine pain in his voice.

"Don't worry, Uncle Klaus," she said, as they separated.

"I'll stay safe. And Dante will always be there to take care of me," she said, smiling as he put his arm around her.

Klaus looked surprised.

"Dante?"

They both averted his gaze, and Zhalia blushed slightly.

"I was going to tell you," she said, "but then the problem with the Spirals came up. I'm going to marry Dante Vale."

He nodded, slowly and carefully.

"Very well then," he said, surprising them both (Zhalia had told Dante about Klaus during the party).

"I approve. Dante Vale proved to be a worthy opponent. As strong a protector as I ever could be, but far stronger in terms of character."

Dante nodded, accepting the compliment.

Finally, John and Kevin stumbled through.

Renee's eyes lit up.

"Kevin! John!" she ran up to her friends, hugging them.

John sucked in his breath as her skin contacted his.

She withdrew from them, smiling.

The gorgeous, slender, petite, dark-haired teenager was about as old as John, and had worked with him on quite a few research projects.

"Hey, Renee," John managed a slight smile.

"We thought you guys died!" she exclaimed.

"The Seeker Prior has been worried. Will you make the report to him, or shall I?" she asked

"We need to discuss some matters with the others," John said, "so I think I'll let you take care of them."

She nodded.

"OK."

As they turned back, John cursed.

"Why does she have to be so beautiful?" he complained to his brother.

Before Kevin could protest that he had the worse end of the deal, the Professor came tumbling out of the portal, still screaming "NO!", as it closed.

He lay face down on the ground, groaning in discomfort.

The man looked up, oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room was staring at him.

"K-Klaus?"

"Darksleep!" Zhalia called, hastily incapacitating him before the situation got any more awkward.

There were a few moments of silence.

John cleared his throat.

"I need to talk to you ladies and gentlemen who had fought the Professor alongside me. In private," he said.

Renee nodded.

"Down the hall. Second door on the right. Unoccupied conference room."

"Thank you," John said, leading the group out in a brisk, business-like manner.

Dante turned to Klaus.

"Klaus, could you tell Metz we're back?"

Klaus looked startled. Dante speaking directly to him without threatening to obliterate him was...new.

He blinked. "Ah, yes. Of course, Mr. Vale."

Dante turned to Zhalia as they filed out of the room.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to him being my father-in-law."

* * *

"Ah...chairs..." Den sighed dreamily, as he leaned back into the his seat and started rolling around the room.

Viviane laughed at her boyfriend's silliness, and yanked him back to the table.

John cleared his throat, and set his Chronicler down on the table.

"First off, some very good news. Now I didn't mention this before, because I didn't want you lot to get your knickers in a twist. But," he tapped something, and the device projected a large hologram of...a set of numbers.

Dante inspected it.

"This is...data."

There was a note of disappointment as he spoke the final word.

John smiled.

"Not just any data. This is all the financial information of the Organisation. Accessing all the money made available by this document would give us a total of..."

The hologram changed to that of a single number. A very, very large number.

Everyone inhaled sharply.

"Not Zimbabwean dollars, mind you. Euros. Even if we give a quarter to each of the treasuries of the Order, the Foundation, and the Casterwills, and divide up the rest evenly amongst ourselves..."

"That's still a dozen times what the Organisation took from me!" Sophie gasped.

Lok turned to his girlfriend, amazed at how she'd managed to rattle off the result of the calculation without the slightest hesitation. He'd almost forgotten that her academic excellence didn't just extend to her knowledge of classical history and literature.

John smiled, "Precisely. More than enough for me to buy a lovely chateau in the English countryside, marry a nice girl, settle down, tend a vegetable garden and live happily ever after."

Everyone looked at him strangely.

"What? I'm a simple man with simple needs," he said defensively.

Lok brushed his shirt. He had the feeling he was forgetting something...

He paused as his hand brushed over something hard and metallic.

"Wait, guys, I've got something else," Lok said.

He produced the three rings of the Legendary Titans of Mind, Body and Spirit, and the Amulet of Will.

"I told Overlos to keep the Legendary Titans in Huntik, but the rings still have some of their power. So I'll give the Amulet of Will to Sophie, Behemoth's ring to Dante, Araknos' ring to Zhalia, and keep Tao's ring for myself. Is that OK?"

Lucas nodded, "I suppose your team earned it. You fought the Professor twice."

"OK," Lok said, handing out the artefacts.

"So, Sophie gets the Amulet of Will, the Casterwill family treasure," he said, as he slipped it around her neck. It shimmered, and a small pulse of white energy flowed from it over her body.

It sat comfortably around her neck, as if to say, _This is where I belong. This is my rightful owner. _It looked really good on her, but then again everything did, from his perspective.

Lok then picked up Tao's ring.

"I got Tao the first time around," Lok said. "I think I'd be able to use his power best."

No one objected.

Lok slipped Tao's ring onto his own finger. Even though it was not as powerful as when Tao was inside it, the magic it retained still made it a force to be reckoned with, and Lok still relished the sudden clarity of thought he gained when he put it on.

"Dante used to control Behemoth," Lok said, "so he should have the ring back."

Lok placed it on his palm, and Dante gazed at it.

Zhalia, Lok and Sophie immediately knew who he was thinking about.

_Metz_.

But after a few seconds, the misty, faraway look in his eyes evaporated, and he slipped on the ring.

Zhalia inhaled sharply and bit her lip. A tide of emotions, _desire_, swelled within her, threatening to overflow, but she kept it under control.

Was it just her, or did Dante suddenly look _hot_?

_As in, even hotter than normal?_

But she calmed herself down, as Lok proceeded.

"And finally, Araknos' ring..."

His voice trailed off. Everyone realised the room was suddenly deathly quiet.

Zhalia blushed slightly as she realised all eyes were on her. Being trained in stealth and naturally introverted made being the centre of attention doubly uncomfortable.

Lok opened his mouth as though he were about to say something, his father cut him off.

"I'm not sure about this, but...I had a theory. The dark pact that Simon made with Araknos...the Titan is crafty. Intelligent. I suspected...I suspected that Simon did not choose this path for himself. That Araknos was, in fact, the true mastermind."

"But if anyone here is an adept at controlling dark powers," Dante said, "It's Zhalia."

Her ears reddened slightly at her fiancé's compliment. She knew it was true; she had learnt the brutal ways of the Organisation all her life, but yet subdued them out of what she would later realise was her love for Dante.

She took the ring, handling it as though it would explode any second.

She carefully slipped it on her finger.

All around the table, people sucked in their breaths. It was like a bunch of white-hot spikes suddenly pressed themselves into their foreheads (they had stopped using their Zero Crystals).

Zhalia realised how powerful the ring was, and she reined its power it, mumbling an apology.

It took everyone about half a minute to settle down.

Lok massaged his temples.

"I don't think anyone's stupid enough to try to make Zhalia angry now," he said.

She smirked. "Trust me, Lok. They wouldn't have fared any better even before I got the ring."

"Anyway," John cleared his throat, "on to more serious matters. The Second Betrayer may be down for the count, but the Greater Red Comet still looms."

"I've been thinking about that," Eathon said.

John quizzically arched an eyebrow.

"I think I've read something about it. Sophie, could you take me down to a Casterwill library? I think I know where we can find a way to reverse the dark magic."

"And I suppose Lok would want to come too," Sophie smiled.

She met his gaze, and their silent conversation went, _If only for the chance to spend more time with you._

"And where Lok goes, I go too!" Cherit said cheerfully.

"Sorry Eathon," he smiled apologetically.

Eathon smiled. "Don't worry, Cherit. I wanted Lok to have you," he said.

"Thanks, Dad," Lok smiled at his father.

"Alright then, after that, we can consider the world saved again," Dante said.

"Then what do we do?" Den asked.

Lok, Sophie, Dante and Zhalia looked at each other.

"Anything we want," they said simultaneously.

John cleared his throat, and then made a face and massaged his windpipe.

"Ow, I'd better stop doing that so much," he muttered.

"Anyway, our work here is done. The world is no longer in peril, Kevin needs to get back to his studies, and I suspect I'll have quite a bit of explaining to do before going back to my research. So I suppose we'll be off, as soon as I'm done with the fund transfers," John said.

"Leave Klaus' funds," Zhalia said. His physical presence may have needed some getting used to, but she had come to accept Klaus as her father in the time since she freed him last year.

"Of course," John nodded, as he got cracking.

"Lane, Dellix and I will go back to our base in Paris," Lucas said.

He turned to Sophie.

"We'll stand by for your orders, Sophie, if you need us."

Then he smiled slightly.

"And...I know I don't need to tell you this, but I'm proud of you, Sophie."

She smiled back, blushing a little.

"Thanks, Lucas," she hugged him.

"And we'll take Viviane back to her home, right, Lucas?" Lane said.

He smiled and nodded, "I don't see why not."

Den and Viviane exchanged panicked glances. After a quiet but furious exchange of hand signals (apparently supposed to be discreet, but everyone else was watching them and neither noticed), they seemed to settle on something like, _Outside. After this. We need to talk._

Dante sighed.

"After what's happened...well, I don't expect to be home for a while. Zhalia, take Den and Harrison to my house. Lok and Sophie can stay in her mansion. You're all welcome to switch between them as you please."

Everyone nodded in agreement. It seemed reasonable.

"Well, then, it's settled," Eathon said. "I imagine Metz might want to see me again, and Dante's office is in this building. The rest of you can make your own way home."

"Okay, we are officially rich," John smiled, closing his Chronicler and stowing it away...wherever he stowed it.

"I gave a quarter to Sophie, Dante and myself, representing the Casterwills, the Foundation and the Order respectively, in addition to the sum I gave to each of us."

"And now, we'll be on our way. It has been an honour, ladies and gentlemen," he said, bowing slightly after he and his brother got up.

Renee was waiting for them as they stepped out the door, and Sandra stood off to one side.

Renee looked grave.

"Kevin, you need to get back to the seminary immediately. You've been missing class. A _lot_."

"Okay, okay. Jeez," he muttered.

"And John," she fixed him with her chocolate-brown eyes. Even with the gravity in them, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful they – and every part of her – looked.

"Y-yes?" he stammered.

"His Eminence wants to see you."

He gulped. The way she said _His Eminence_ told him exactly who he wanted to see him. The man was kind but strict, but that was not what worried him. He was a very busy man, and members of the Order rarely saw him. If they did, that meant something important had happened, which normally meant something had gone seriously wrong.

Renee unsuccessfully attempted to suppress a smile at his panicked expression.

"Don't worry," she said, touching his arm.

John winced, as though the contact had sent a jolt of electricity up his arm, but she didn't notice it.

"The Cardinal won't bite."

"What...what went wrong?"

She shrugged.

"He didn't say. But whatever it is, we all need to get back as soon as possible."

The three of them headed out of the building.

Sandra met Lok, Sophie and Eathon outside the door.

She hugged her son and kissed her husband again.

"Eathon, I talked to Metz. He...well, he wants to see you."

Eathon smiled. "I can understand. It's been...a long time."

"We'll go with Dad," Lok said.

"I need to take Lok and Mr. Lambert to a Casterwill library to investigate something later," Sophie explained.

Sandra nodded, but she looked distracted.

Lok and Sophie realised that they hadn't really had an opportunity to mention the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing to Sandra yet, but their behaviour and the chemistry between them was making it quite obvious.

They were hurriedly joined by Dante, after he kissed his fiancée goodbye.

"I'll come too," he said.

No one objected.

As Sandra led Lok, Sophie, Dante and Eathon down the corridor to go see Metz, Zhalia, Harrison, Lane, Lucas and Dellix moved to one side, smirking and chuckling as they gave Den and Viviane some alone time.

As the group chatted about mundane matters, the young couple discussed how they were going to keep seeing each other.

"You can't stay in the caves," Viviane said, "Outsiders are only allowed as guests. Especially handsome, brave, boy outsiders who I'm madly in love with," she fluttered her lashes at him.

"And you can't come to stay with us," Den said. "You need to stay in the caves."

Viviane stared at her feet and sighed.

"But..." he started.

She looked up, a mixture of surprise and gladness growing on her face.

Den smiled as he brought out two crystals.

He smiled.

She looked like she'd just realised she'd won the lottery.

"Took me forever to figure out how that spell worked," he said, "but it was worth it."

"How did you get it?" she asked, gratefully, incredulously, and joyously taking one of the crystals.

"John's really clumsy," he smiled.

She smiled too, and kissed him.

"Keep it open," she said.

"You too. I'll visit often."

Then they hugged, and kissed each other goodbye.

"Come on," Lucas smiled. The two of them gave him those warm and fuzzy feelings inside.

"Let's go."

* * *

Dante rapped his knuckles on the door. Metz opened it a few seconds later.

Behind him, they could see a study table, with a few chairs in front of it. They assumed it was Metz's office.

"Ah, Mr Vale! Mrs. Lambert! And..."

His eyes lit up.

"Eathon!" he cried, hugging his old friend.

The others stepped out of the way.

"Metz," Eathon hugged him back, tears forming in his eyes.

"Eathon, we thought you died! Lok told me about you appearing to him, but..."

"Well, old friend, I'm still alive," he smiled, as he turned to his son.

"And thank you," he said, "for taking such good care of my son."

Metz laughed kindly.

"I think you owe far more thanks to Dante here for that. He trained your son like I trained him, and like...Simon...trained you..."

An uncomfortable silence settled on the group. Eathon was clearly still distressed over mentor's treachery.

"I still don't understand why he did it. Did the power of Araknos drive him mad? Or was the Titan really far more sinister than it had appeared at first?"

Metz sighed. He was no more comfortable than Eathon discussing the subject.

"We've put Simon in a maximum security cell. Maybe we could get him to see reason."

"Do come," he addressed Eathon directly.

"I've tried," he sighed sadly.

"He had Overlos smite me to silence me," he said.

"That brings me to the main reason I wanted to see you," Metz said, hurriedly and gratefully changing the subject.

"What happened, exactly?" he asked, sitting down on the chair behind the study table.

"Yes," Sandra said, "Oh, Eathon, I was worried _sick _about you. And I couldn't bear the thought of losing Lok too."

"Take a seat," Metz gestured to the chairs in front of the table.

Eathon explained how he'd entered Huntik while investigating the Spirals, and Lok explained how they had to face Drakkon the Insane Nullifier. He left out the visions, though; they were confusing and a little embarrassing. Then he explained how they'd found Eathon, and how the Professor had tried to kill them all in one fell swoop.

Dante took over then, talking about how they'd battled their way through the Professor's support infrastructure, and the final battle.

Eathon sighed heavily, staring at his feet.

"He thought himself a god, Metz."

He looked straight at his friend.

"Why?" Eathon asked harshly.

Metz put a hand on his shoulder.

"When this all blows over, we need to have a good, long talk with him."

Eathon nodded.

"Until then, I need to investigate a lead I discovered in Huntik. It could solve our Spiral troubles."

He kissed his wife.

"Goodbye, darling. I'll see you back home."

"Can I come too, Mr Lambert?" Sophie asked her (hopeful) future father-in-law.

He smiled.

"I almost forgot. Sandra, Metz, this is Sophie Casterwill, Lok's girlfriend."

Sophie bit her lip and blushed. She had been trained to maintain her composure under any circumstances, but Sandra looked like she was about to start breathing fire.

Instead, Sandra broke into a smile.

"My little Lok's all grown up now!" she smiled warmly, ruffling his hair and causing _him_ to blush.

Eathon smiled. "Lok, Sophie, you're both very lucky," he said.

"I could tell from how you acted in Huntik. You both truly love each other."

"We already knew that, dad," Lok smiled.

"Well, I've had Sophie over before," Sandra said.

Sophie smiled.

"If I may, Mr Lambert, your wife was a _most_ gracious host. And an excellent chef, too."

Sandra smiled. "Thank you, Sophie. And of course she can stay with us. Just..."

Her smirk was tinged with mischief.

"...stay in your rooms, you two," she wagged her finger at them in a mock warning.

It was difficult to tell whose face was redder, Lok's or Sophie's.

"Mum!" Lok complained.

Eathon laughed.

"Come on, you two," he said, putting his shoulders around Lok and Sophie.

He turned around. "Bye, honey!"

She waved at him.

"I'd better get going too," she said to Metz.

He nodded, and she was off.

And then he turned to Metz.

"Well, my young student," he smiled, "as a member of the Huntik council, you have your own duties to attend to. A lot of paperwork has built up in your absence."

Dante sighed, but he was smiling.

"But Metz, I was trapped in Huntik!"

"No excuses," Metz said, laughter in his eyes, "back to your office!"

Dante smiled as he left the room.

It was good to be back.

* * *

_Ordo Quaesitorum HQ  
Vatican City_

John and Renee chatted amicably as they traversed the familiar corridors of the Order's headquarters.

Renee was filling him in on the important events around the world at the time. She was supposed to be a biology intern, but she also had a knack for intelligence, gathering data, and so forth. John never really trusted journalists though, so his knowledge of current events tended to lag behind somewhat, and he relied on Renee to supply that deficit.

"...and the media has decided to dig up the cases from the 60s to the 80s, half of them fabricated, and splash them on the front page as though it was _news_. And over half the content in your average NYT article on the topic is false or fallacious."

"Thought that was last year."

"They're at it _again_. Maybe they can't meet the quarterly quota for sales or something."

John sighed. "This is why I don't read newspapers, Renee."

"Well, it's worse this time around. Can you believe the nerve of some people? Jason told me there's a whole bunch of protests and petitions and stuff going around on Facebook."

John had come to cherish that word. It reminded him of one of the things he had in common with Renee, and very few other people: neither of them used the social network.

"There's even a group or something publicly asking people to sign up for an attack on the Vatican on a specific date! And _of course _the administrators are doing nothing about it. I read the stuff there. I only got through a few lines. These people make me sick."

They rounded a corner, stepping onto a literal red carpet. It led up to a door with three sets of coats-of-arms: the Holy See's on top, followed by that of the Order, and finally the personal coat-of-arms of His Eminence Cardinal Girelli, Seeker Prior of the Ordo Quaesitorum.

The two suddenly fell silent.

Renee gently pushed him forward.

"Anyway, see you," she said, as she about-faced and returned to her office/study.

John gulped. The fact that he had been requested to knock on that particular door could only mean that he had done something very, very wrong.

Tremblingly, he proceeded down the corridor, his footsteps muffled on the carpet.

He raised his hand timidly, and knocked.

It was so quiet he could barely hear it himself.

He drew a deep breath, and raised his hand again. He was ready.

He landed three solid knocks on the door, and suddenly felt terribly exhausted.

His heart almost jumped out of his throat when the door swung open.

John fell to one knee and bowed his head.

"Your Eminence. John Thomas, Ordo Quaesitorum, at your service. Renee Adams reported that you wished to see me."

The Cardinal nodded.

"Not quite," he said.

John blinked.

_Not quite? What was that supposed to mean?_

"It is not I who wishes to see you," the Cardinal stepped aside, revealing the contents of the room.

Behind his study table sat the Pope himself.

John's other knee immediately buckled, and he fell prostrate.

"Your Holiness," he said, reverently and tremblingly.

The Pope smiled warmly. John couldn't tell it, though; his face was busy getting acquainted with the ground.

"Rise, my son," the Pope said.

"No, Your Holiness. Your humble servant is unworthy."

This time, he heard the warm compassion and humility in the man's voice.

"No, my son. I am not much better than you. I, too, am a poor sinner, like all men. Please, rise."

John did so slowly and fearfully.

He looked upon the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, clad in a moderate (but still extremely impressive) amount of regalia, and the Cardinal standing by his side.

"Take a seat," the Pope gestured to the chairs.

"His Eminence must be seated first, Your Holiness," John objected.

Being in the presence of these two men made John feel like he was juggling nukes.

The Pope smiled.

"Very well."

John dusted off the chairs before the Cardinal sat down, and he sat last, next to the Cardinal, paying the closest attention to every detail of his posture and appearance.

"Now, my son, Cardinal Girelli has been telling me the most incredible things about your exploits. You must fill me in."

So John explained everything, starting from the Huntik Foundation's battle with the Professor, to the defeat of the Betrayer at the hands of the Foundation and the Casterwills, to the battle against the Second Betrayer, and their run-in with the Professor in Huntik.

The Pope listened intently throughout. Occasionally he would interrupt the boy to seek clarification or ask him to repeat himself, but aside from that it was just a monologue from John summarising the events of the past two years.

The Pope turned to the Cardinal when they were done.

"Cardinal Girelli, we let the forces of evil nearly take over the world twice before we decided to take action?"

The Cardinal frowned. "Your Holiness, the Order has never revealed its existence to anyone beyond a handful at a time, and the Pope. We had to be very sure that the situation was unsalvageable before we took action."

"And in both cases, our judgement was proved correct, Your Holiness," John said. "The others managed to resolve the crises themselves."

The Pope sighed.

"The Ordo Quaesitorum's existence within the Church is symbolic, you realise. The Church, in her entirety, stands against chaos. She is immutable. She spans the millennia. She stops men from destroying themselves with nihilistic and wilful behaviour through her laws. She binds generations and peoples with her rituals. She ensures the prosperity of the kingdoms of men with her teaching. She fights chaos and destruction with the power of her groom, Christ Himself. The Order embodies that fight. The world of Seekers and Titans is ultimately directed towards battling the Nullifiers, the purest servants of chaos that can be found. The Order engages in and directs this fight, even if it has almost never fought directly. But ultimately, you must know that the battle between order and chaos is fought in the hearts of men. All men, not just Seekers. The battlefield is changing, my son. Our Enemy knows that there will always be heroes like you to stop his pawns of chaos. Even the mightiest ones, such as the Nullifiers. _His_ darkness infects civilisation. Even as you return from this battle victorious, the Church as a whole weakens. If I were to pronounce a Crusade and declare _ex cathedra_ that all faithful worldwide must join it...I am not sure how many will."

He addressed the Cardinal directly.

"The Order has revealed itself to the world of Seekers, but there may come a day where it will have to reveal itself to the rest of the world. The battle with chaos is being dragged from the fringes of the world into the heart of civilisation, into the soul of every man, woman and child. The Church will need every weapon in her arsenal on that day, and that includes the Ordo Quaesitorum, and the ancient powers of the Seekers and Titans. Be prepared for that day, Cardinal."

The Cardinal regarded the Pope gravely.

"And let us pray it never arrives."

The Pope nodded.

"Master Thomas, you and your brother have shown exceptional courage and wisdom in battling these foes. I would like to express my gratitude and commend you on this. Is there anything you would like from me?"

John frowned, deep in thought. It wasn't every day the most powerful man on Earth offered to do anything for you.

"Well...there is one thing."

* * *

_Paris, Montmorency Suburb  
France_

"Argh, we've been searching _forever_!" Lok complained, as he threw a book down. It skidded across a table.

"Lok!" Sophie cried in alarm and annoyance.

She ran over and inspected the book for damage.

"Lok, be careful!" she scolded, glaring at him.

Lok was staring dejectedly at the ground, as though he was a puppy who was being shouted at by his owner.

"These are priceless manuscripts and...and...oh, who am I kidding."

Her frown melted.

"I can't stay mad at you," she kissed him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Sophie," he said, "it's just...it's like we've been here forever. What are we looking—"

"There!"

Eathon walked over to the table where he had laid out several books.

He placed down the last one, which he had just found.

"What is it?" Sophie asked. Even she didn't know what she was looking at. The manuscripts didn't seem to have any connection to each other...

Suddenly, she spotted it.

"There!" she and Eathon pointed at the same phrase in one text.

Lok's eyes lit up. The pieces of the puzzle started falling into place.

"And there, and there, and there!" he pointed at various phrases.

Slowly, it was unfolding before Lok, Sophie and Eathon's eyes. They knew exactly what they had to do.

"So," Eathon said, as Sophie summoned her Cypherdex and began taking notes (straight-A student that she was), "we need to perform this ritual on the Summer Solstice. It will erase the Greater Red Comet from history, and the world will be safe."

"But the solstice is months away!" Sophie said.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Lok asked.

"Well," Eathon smiled, "as you two said, anything you want. Just remember. The solstice."

He turned to Sophie, "Take down the instructions for the ritual."

"Already on it," she said, her fingers flying across the controls as her eyes flitted between the Cypherdex and the manuscripts.

"So, Dad, will you come with Sophie and me on missions? I mean, that's pretty much what we're going to do for the next few months, if not the rest of our lives, right?"

Eathon smiled sadly.

"Actually, Lok, I've been giving it some thought...but I think I should replace Dante on the Huntik Council."

Lok blinked. He hadn't considered that.

"I know it may be surprising to you, but Dante isn't a desk operative. He's a fighter. A Seeker. He belongs out there on the field, battling evil and uncovering ancient secrets, not doing paperwork behind a desk. He's in the prime of his life. I, on the other hand, am growing old. I don't think I can keep up any more. Work on the council would not be overly exciting, but it would be pleasant and safe. And I'd get to spend a lot more time with your mother and sister. You've fought side by side with me in Huntik already, Lok. I think your mother and sister need me more now."

Lok hated to admit it, but his father was right.

"Well...Mum and you and me and maybe Sophie can still go on missions from time to time, right?"

Eathon smiled. "Of course, son."

"Alright, done!" Sophie shut her Cypherdex.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Eathon smiled.

"Come on, Lok, let's go home!"

_To be continued..._

**A/N Sorry if this one's a little shorter and not as action/fluff-packed as the usual. It's more of a bridge chapter than anything. Anyway, exams next week, so it'll be a while.**

** Heads up for Percy Jackson fans: I'll be starting a new fic soon, called _The Demigod Tales_. Like the canonical _Files_ and _Diaries_, it'll be a compendium of short stories, but these will be shorter, like the Huntik ones that I finish in a single night, so it shouldn't detract my attention from this one too much. Stay tuned.**


	12. Chapter 12: No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter 12: No Rest for the Wicked

**A/N Sorry, running low on ideas for chapter names.**

** I know you guys are probably going to hate me for this, but the Percy Jackson story I was talking about in the previous chapter has been launched. Yeah, it's kind of slowed down things on this front. But no worries, I'll try to update both as regularly as I can.**

_Huntik International HQ  
New York City, USA_

Dante massaged his temples, as he stared at his Holotome. There were dark circles around his eyes; he had not slept much the past few days.

In the week since he'd returned from Huntik, he'd been working overtime to clear out the remaining work assigned to him so that Eathon wouldn't be bogged down by his problems.

He smiled slightly at the thought.

_Finally, I get to see Zhalia again._

Honestly, he was ecstatic about Eathon offering to replace him. The man was right; Dante wasn't a desk job person. Neither was Eathon, really, but the man was growing too old to be doing much else on a regular basis.

And the thought of seeing his fiancée again filled him with joy.

He turned back to the Holotome, and continued typing the last paragraph in the last report he had to file before Eathon could take over his position.

As he typed, Behemoth's ring on his finger caught his attention.

_Ring…maybe it's time I got her a real ring._

He made a mental note to visit a jewellery store nearby before heading back to Venice.

As he was typing the last sentence, his Holotome beeped.

He sighed.

_Who…_

He checked the caller ID.

It was John.

He brought up the holographic projection of the boy's face.

John bowed his head.

"Mr Vale, it's good to see you again."

"Hello, John. What is it?"

John looked the man in the eye.

"His Holiness has ordered us to start working more closely with the Foundation, and to settle the Spiral threat once and for all. He thinks the forces of chaos are about to attempt a…different approach, one that cannot be dealt with using spells and Titans. If the Spiral forces are still active while this occurs, that would be very bad. The Spiral superweapons are out of commission, but there are still hordes of them out there. Last I checked, Wind and Shauna are still operating. Intelligence tells me the Spirals are still recruiting. The Blood Spiral Brotherhood is, in and of itself, a very powerful and dangerous force. We will need to capture any new Titans that appear before they do, and preferably recruit as many potential Seekers as possible. I'm sending you all the intel we have on Titans and potential Seekers now."

Dante looked at the size of the data file.

"That…is a lot of intel."

"The Order has concealed its existence from even the Spirals for two millennia, Mr Vale. You'll find our infiltration of various organisations quite a bit deeper than you might realise at first."

Dante nodded. "Alright, I'll pass this on to Metz. By the way, I'll be rejoining my team. Eathon will take my place in the council."

"Good for Zhalia, I suppose. Well, then, that's it for now. I'll keep the Foundation posted on things."

"You make it sound like you won't be joining us."

John laughed.

"Mr Vale, I am an explorer of theories, not dungeons. The entire Order consists of researchers. We will supply you the intel, but how you act on it is entirely up to you."

The way the boy phrased it made him sound intensely sinister. But Dante knew he was a trustworthy person.

"Oh, yes, and one more thing. I've managed to persuade His Holiness to say a wedding Mass at St. Peter's Basilica for you and Zhalia. And Lok and Sophie too, if they want it. It's technically legal, for their age."

Dante blinked.

"What?"

"You heard me. If Zhalia is amicable, the Pope is willing to marry you two in St. Peter's Basilica. Do inform me of your choice soon. His Holiness is a very busy man."

And with that, John signed off.

Dante looked at Behemoth's ring again.

_OK, I'd better get that ring._

* * *

"How much for this one?" Dante asked the shopkeeper, while hunched over a display case.

Silence.

Dante straightened up. The shopkeeper had been there just a few seconds ago.

He looked around.

There was no sign of him.

"Excuse me?"

Silence.

He turned to face the glass door leading out of the shop and into the street.

_Where is he?_

And then, in the faint, partial reflection of the glass door, he saw a figure with a reddish-black glow in his hand standing behind him.

Dante's mind didn't have enough time to process this, but his body automatically dove to the right as the Nullcurse slammed into the door, exploding and scattering shards of glass all over the street.

Civilians screamed and fled outside, as Dante turned to face his adversary.

"Dante Vale," Shauna spat the name as though it were a curse. She took her place next to her partner, Wind, behind a display case.

Dante tensed for action, but Shauna guessed the first plan that came to his mind.

She laughed cruelly.

"Don't try to run, coward. There are eight Silent Soldiers behind you. There is no escape, Dante Vale. You will die here today."

Dante fought the urge to look. A moment's distraction, and Shauna or Wind would kill him.

He was fairly sure they weren't bluffing, though. So he would have to be careful.

He took a deep breath, readying himself.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked, smiling cockily, as he assumed a combat stance.

"Let's get this over with."

"Attack!" Shauna snarled.

And the shop exploded.

Dante threw himself to the ground, as Shauna fired a Rippleburst and Wind sent a Bladewave towards him. Nullcurses sailed overhead, confirming Shauna's threat. One of them blasted Wind in the face, but he shrugged it off.

Dante rolled, so that he was on his back, and saw that Wind and Shauna had inadvertently taken out four of their Silent Soldiers.

"Doublespell! Touchram!"

The twin green explosions incapacitated the rest.

Wind leapt over the display cabinet, bringing his glowing red fist towards Dante's face. Dante rolled aside, and punched Wind before he could get up.

Even though he hadn't the time to cast Dragonfist, his hand glowed green as he swung. And when the blow connected, Wind flew out of the shop and was nearly run over by a car.

Dante blinked in surprise.

_Of course! The ring!_

He hadn't had time to test out Lok's gift. But he was sure that his sudden strength was its doing.

He rolled so that he was face down, and got to his feet, facing Shauna.

But Shauna had not spent those few seconds idling around. As soon as he popped up, she blasted him in the chest with a Rippleburst.

Dante tumbled onto the street as civilians screamed and cars screeched to a halt, blaring their horns. He was, surprisingly, not just still alive, but still conscious, and only slightly dazed.

_Must be the ring._

He forced himself to his feet as Shauna ran out to continue her assault on him.

"Venomhand!" she swung at his head.

He effortlessly blocked her strikes. He kept up his defence until she started slowing down.

And then, he seized upon one of her moments of distraction, slipped under one of her strikes, got behind her, put one arm around her midsection, and pinned her hands with the other.

"Aaargh! NEWFURY!" she broke out of his arms and hurled a Nullcurse at his head as he ducked.

She tried to kick him, but he spun aside and rose in one fluid motion, finding himself next to her.

He was about to give her a solid punch to the face when something extremely large slammed into him.

He flew back towards the jewellery store, breaking his fall with an Armourbrand.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," he grumbled, as he saw Shakrit rearing up in front of him. Wind and Shauna stood atop the Titan.

The serpent lunged towards him, maw wide open, eager to finish the job, but Dante jumped onto its head.

Shakrit took to the air to avoid smashing into the buildings, as Dante duelled the Seekers. His forearms glowed green. He shrugged off their blows and blocked their strikes with ease. Both his opponents knew what his strikes could do to them, and played defensively, putting extra effort into avoiding his strikes.

Then, Dante saw a split-second opportunity. Wind swung his fist towards him, and Dante caught his arm, and spun him into Shauna. The momentum from Wind's strike, Wind's own weight, and Dante's strength combined to slam Shauna off of Shakrit altogether.

Wind fell off, but managed to perform an insanely tight mid-air flip, and grabbed hold of Shakrit, preventing himself from falling.

Anger burned in his eyes.

Wind glowed with reddish energy as he launched himself into the air using his arms. He dove towards Dante, feet first, intending to perform a flying kick.

But the Seeker was prepared. He sidestepped the attack, and Wind landed in a very precarious position on his Titan. Dante slammed both fists into him before he could recover, sending Wind flying off of Shakrit, but he was surprisingly composed as he fell.

Dante realised why shortly after. With Shauna and Wind both having fallen off, Shakrit had no qualms about throwing Dante off with one flick of its head.

"Featherdrop!" Dante called, landing gently.

Wind, Shauna and Shakrit rushed straight at him.

But as Shakrit closed, Dante pulled his arm back, closing his eyes. A cocoon of green light thickened around it.

The Titan was too enraged to evaluate the significance of this.

And then, with a single mighty blow, Dante socked the Titan straight in the face. The blow banished it back to its amulet.

The Spirals looked at each other, shocked.

Before Dante could Kindlestrike either, they Fireported to safety.

* * *

_Dante's House  
Venice, Italy_

"You were right," Dante told John.

The Order Seeker's face was projected on Dante's television system, as Lok, Sophie, Dante, Zhalia, Den and Harrison sat around his living room. He appeared to be seated in some sort of vehicle cockpit. His brother's arm and part of his face were visible on the right edge of the screen.

"Wind and Shauna ambushed me while I was on my way back to Venice. I would have died if it wasn't for Lok's gift," he raised a hand, showing the ring to John, as he nodded at his protégé.

John nodded, his expression grave.

"Intelligence reports that your team, Mr Vale, is Spiral enemy number 1. Mr Vale, Ms Casterwill, I've requisitioned additional Seekers for your sectors, and I recommend you use your authority over the Foundation and the Casterwills respectively to do the same."

John continued. "Additionally, there have been some developments since we talked in New York, Mr Vale. The topic that wins the first prize for Spiral attention is how to kill the six of you. The second…well, wherever we kicked the Second Betrayer's hindquarters to, it wasn't far enough. He's apparently been able to contact the Spirals since a few days ago. The chatter indicates they're planning a magic ritual to bring him back. My team and I were trying to sift out clues about where and when, exactly, this would be done. We finally finished a few minutes ago, so you're just in time. There isn't a second to lose."

"Hold up," Den raised his hand.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier? If it's really so urgent, we should have called in a Foundation scramjet!"

John seemed to be struggling to suppress a smile.

"The situation is indeed grave and urgent, Mstr Fears. So grave and urgent, in fact, that a scramjet won't be enough."

It was then that they all heard the rising hum of energy through the window.

The team ran out, only to see a sleek craft, glowing with electric yellow energy, materialise a distance away. It left a trail of the energy in its wake, which thinned and dissipated over time.

The craft's trajectory curved as it came in for a landing. Seated in the two-man cockpit were John and Kevin Thomas.

A panel on the side of the craft closest to them slid aside, revealing several seats inside.

"Hop in, ladies and gentlemen. There's work to be done, so I hope you're all ready for a fight."

The team members looked at each other, then they got in and buckled up.

"Welcome," John said over the intercom, "to the _Cupertino_ -class Assault Shuttle. Kevin and I, with the help of some engineers back at base, assembled this from the Professor's schematics. He'd managed to find a way to port spells to inanimate machinery. So we'd used this technique to develop several weapons and devices. Now I won't bore you with the details of how it works, so I'll just give you the loadout of the Cupertino. It's outfitted with twin rapid-fire frontal Raypulse turrets, a spinal-mounted Rippleburst cannon, for when we need to bring firepower to bear, a sneaky little Augerfrost cannon in the belly, for when we need some precision, four Bubblelift Repulsors underneath, a Camoforge Generator, a Stormdash (A/N New spell) Booster, inherent Armourbrand enchantment in the plating, as well as deployable external Armourbrand shields, and a few Spellparry flare launchers, for swatting away unpleasantness."

"Are we ready to go?" John asked his brother.

Kevin flipped a few switches, and the craft lifted off the ground.

"All systems green."

"Right," he turned back to the intercom, "Now, the Stormdash Booster's a little noisy, so if you don't mind, Ms Moon, a Thoughtspectre muffler would be nice. Don't want to startle Mr Vale's neighbours now, do we?"

Zhalia nodded, and shrouded the craft in the spell.

"Kevin," John nodded.

_BOOM!_

A deafening sound, like a thunderclap, echoed around the craft, as it accelerated so suddenly that the team members were forcibly pressed into their seats.

Den was the first to recover his breath

Dante peeled himself from his seat, as the velocity differences were corrected.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be joining us?" he asked John.

"No, no, that was _before_ we figured out what the Spirals were up to."

Video screens deployed in front of each of the seats.

"As often happens," John began explaining, as the screens played images of ancient Egyptian paintings and carvings, "Titans and Seekers colourised the reaction of ancient peoples to the Sacred. Ancient Egypt is no exception. As far as we know, the land of Egypt had been menaced since the dawn of time by an extremely powerful Nullifier known only as Apophis the Serpent."

"But Nullifiers aren't serpents," Harrison pointed out.

"Good call, Harrison. But Nullifiers, being practically manifestations of chaos, are of a diverse array of forms. There are the standard Nullifiers, like Void and Drakkon, then there are the others, like Apophis, who have chosen a more specific form."

"Anyway, to deal with this threat, Lord Casterwill dispatched one of his most powerful allies, who would later come to be worshipped by the Egyptians as Ra, the sun god. Ra and his lieutenants, Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys, battled the Serpent day and night. It was so powerful that even Lord Casterwill couldn't banish it. So these Seekers, blessed with immortality, continued to battle the Serpent even after Lord Casterwill died."

"Now, Ra was said to have ruled over and protected the Kingdom of Egypt for centuries, until Isis betrayed him in order to elevate her husband Osiris to power. Ra, severely weakened, was said to have ascended into the sky after sealing away Apophis with Bast, the cat goddess, but we normally take this to mean he sacrificed a vast amount of his energy to bind Apophis in an inter-dimensional prison with Bast, who we take to be a powerful Titan of his. This sacrifice, then, would have put him into something like a coma for millennia."

"Yeah, OK, so what does that have to do with the Second Betrayer?" Lok asked

"We discovered where we sent the Second Betrayer. He's joined Apophis and Bast. The two were already trapped in a stalemate, but the Second Betrayer can tip the scales in either direction. We now know that he has defeated Bast and bonded with Apophis, using the Serpent's control over chaos to smuggle instructions to Spirals on Earth. Think of it as something like chaos slipping in through the cracks in order and civilisation."

"Anyway, Ra's prison was powerful. Even without Bast constantly attacking them, Apophis and the Second Betrayer combined will take decades, centuries even, to return to Earth. But the prison is actually fairly easy to open from this side. For example, Lord Casterwill's enchantment on the Stonehenge was powerful enough to break open the seals on their prison for the moment that was needed to deposit the Second Betrayer there."

"But what we're concerned about is how Set almost did it. Set, jealous of Osiris, betrayed the King with a powerful spell, binding him in a prison that slowly and painfully drained his life, wanting to draw out Osiris' death and make him suffer. Set then scattered the forty-two keys needed to free him all over Egypt. Nephthys, the wife of Set, was horrified at this, and joined Isis in retrieving the keys, while Set assumed the throne."

"When Osiris returned, Set's prison had so weakened him that he only had time to conceive a child, Horus, with his wife, before dying altogether. Set, discovering the threat, tried to hunt them down. And it was at this time that Apophis began making a concrete effort to contact Set. It had been the insidious whispering of Apophis that inspired Set's vicious and chaotic betrayal, but now the Serpent promised Set great power if he freed it from Ra's prison."

"Set, anxious to secure the throne, did as Apophis asked. He was far less powerful than Lord Casterwill, so he needed to build a Temple to focus the forces of Chaos on liberating Apophis. Before he could bring the Serpent back, Horus, who had matured into a powerful Seeker, slew Set, and took his rightful place upon the throne. Eventually, well, since the crisis of the Nullifiers was over, powerful Seekers like Horus, Isis and Nephthys were no longer needed. That age of Titans was past. We believe they must have sealed themselves in a coma, like Ra's, awaiting the return of Apophis."

"I still don't get it. What does that have to do with the Spirals?" Lok asked.

"The Temple of Apophis was buried by Set's Seekers. It was ready to be used, but Set's servants knew they wouldn't finish the ritual before Horus arrived, so they chose to hide it beneath the sands instead, and bide their time instead. It would seem that Set's plan is finally about to come to fruition. With Bast defeated and Apophis and the Second Betrayer pushing from the other side, Wind and Shauna are easily capable of using the Temple to break Apophis and the Second Betrayer out. They would have seemed to have received the order to go there immediately after their assassination attempt on Mr Vale."

"So, if we don't stop the ritual, Stonehenge would've been for naught!" Sophie cried.

"Exactly, Ms Casterwill. Which is why we're going there…right…now."

The video screens switched to a camera feed from the cockpit.

The video feed zoomed in. A circle of Spirals stood in the sand, with mobs more standing at the sides. Wind and Shauna stood opposite each other on the circle. They, and the others in the circle, extended their hands, projecting energy into a blood-red and black orb of malevolence that hung over the sand. The orb seemed to be projecting some kind of field around the spirals, while a red pyramid-shaped structure rose from the ground.

"Alright, Mr Vale, I believe you have your mission," John said, transmitting the data to Dante's holotome.

The device projected a mission card.

"Mission: The Red Pyramid," Dante read. "Stop the Spirals in the Red Pyramid from completing the ritual to summon Apophis."

He turned to his team.

"Seekers, we have a mission."

Grim determination passed over the faces of all present at the sound of those familiar words.

The craft began to gradually decelerate.

Den, Zhalia and Harrison winced, grabbing their arms. The whole fiasco with the Professor had made them forget the painful effect that approaching Blood Spirals or places of chaos could have.

"Kevin, aim all weapons at the field."

The structure was almost done rising.

"Alright, get ready. The Second Betrayer is a wildcard, and Apophis is a Nullifier. The two of them together might figure out the Greater Red Comet. The fate of the world hangs in the balance, but you're all used to that by now, I suppose?"

There was some small chuckles as they closed in.

"Alright, drop the cloak, full power to weapons, FIRE!"

A brilliant flash of yellow filled the screen.

John muttered something rather impolite.

"No good," he said. "I'll have to break through the field myself. Kevin, land in front of the entrance."

"I thought Kevin was afraid of heights," Harrison said, as John hurried into the passenger area and grabbed a package from the back of the plane. Oddly enough, he was wearing a white robe with a purple rope around his waist. Black cloth peeked out from under the hem and the ends of the sleeves, indicating that he wore an additional black robe beneath the white one.

"He's afraid of _pilots_. He likes to control his own elevation," John answered absently, as he pulled out a silver stole, embroidered with symbols, and put it around his neck, letting the two ends hang down. He crossed them over his chest, and slipped them into loops his rope-belt. He then draped a large cloak-apron garment, also covered in symbols, over his shoulders. He ended up looking a lot like a priest, except with the colours wrong.

John dusted it off, as everyone stared.

He looked up.

"Well, we _do_ have formal battle garments. These are enchanted to greatly enhance the power of our spells. They're just not the sort of thing that you'd run around in every day."

John pulled out a sword from the back of the plane. It wasn't the one he stole from the Seashadow in Huntik. This one was longer, and its blade was made of a strange bluish metal, which was also inscribed with symbols.

"The Order's members have never _ever_ had to use these," he muttered, as he twirled his blade.

The door slid open as they felt Kevin coming in for a landing.

John jumped and rolled on impact, miraculously not cutting himself with his sword.

He touched his weapon to the field, and the symbols on the blade glowed painfully bright as purplish-blue energy flowed from its tip, engulfing the field. It glowed faintly, but its colour seemed to be thickening.

"Can't you make it go faster?" Den shouted from the craft.

"It's an enchantment," John shouted back. "It's built to last. And it's very powerful magic. Normal methods would take even longer."

The Spirals within noticed John's attempt to break their field and ran towards the Seeker. That was all they could see before the purplish-blue energies thickened to the point of opacity.

_Any second now…_

And suddenly, with a sound like an anguished scream, the field fizzled out of existence.

The second the field was dropped, the Cupertino began firing.

The Raypulses were like machineguns. Each shot struck and disabled a Spiral, and the craft had an extremely high rate of fire, so in a matter of seconds the threat in the immediate vicinity was ameliorated. The rest of the Spirals, realising they had no chance, fled into the pyramid, while some threw up shields to deflect the blasts.

Then the Ripplebursts started flying. Shot after shot smashed into the frame of the pyramid, but the temple glowed red and black each time it was hit, and the blocks which made up the pyramid showed no sign of damage when the light faded.

By this point, most of the Spirals had retreated into the building already.

Kevin brought the craft down to in front of the pyramid's entrance, then set it to autopilot.

"The Cupertino will take care of any Spirals outside," he told the team, as he ran to the back of the plane.

He equipped himself in a manner similar to John, except his rope-belt and stole were gold, and his cloak was purple. His blade was iridescent, its colour ever-changing.

The others didn't bother to gawk, and instead jumped out of the craft.

"Come on!" John shouted, pointing his sword at the entrance to the pyramid as the team landed behind him.

The eight Seekers rushed into the building.

Immediately, they were bombarded by the spells of the Silent Soldiers within.

John threw up his hands.

"Glacierward!"

The shield glowed brighter and whiter than any of them had seen before, absorbing the entire torrent of spells without faltering.

John lowered the shield, and the Seekers took advantage of the fact that their opponents probably thought them dead by unleashing their own volley of spells. When the dust cleared, the corridor was littered with unconscious Spirals.

"Let's go!" Dante ran ahead.

As he came to a junction, a Spiral popped out from around the corner.

"NULLCURSE!" he screamed. He didn't launch the spell, confining it to his hand, so it had an effect much like that of the Dragonfist spell.

Dante sidestepped his blow, wheeled around, got behind, and put him in a chokehold.

He raised a hand.

"Dark—"

"Wait!" Zhalia said.

She walked up to the Silent Soldier and lifted her hand, pointing the ring at his face.

"Simplemind."

Her eyes glowed and the ring glowed crimson. Ordinarily, this spell would be ineffective on Seekers, but the ring amplified her power.

"You will take us to where Wind and Shauna are."

The Silent Soldier stuttered, "I-I will take you to where Lord Wind and Lady Shauna are."

Zhalia lowered the ring.

Dante released the Silent Soldier, and he robotically and absently walked out down the corridor.

The Seekers followed, spells at the ready.

* * *

The Seekers' Tomes had failed to map the labyrinthine passages within the Temple of Apophis. The sheer chaos energy radiating off the walls jammed the devices. So they had to rely on Zhalia's guide, whose movements were slow and jerky, to get around. Every second that slipped by chilled them with the thought that this was another second wasted in stopping the return of the Second Betrayer.

Their journey, though agonisingly slow, was relatively uneventful. The small groups of Spirals they encountered were easily blasted into oblivion. But as they closed in on Wind and Shauna, they could feel the chaotic malevolence of the very walls and floor growing stronger. They shuddered as dark thoughts flashed across their minds against their will, each one darker and more intense than the last.

Zhalia stopped in her tracks as an image of her own hands blasting Klaus with copious volumes of toxic green liquid flashed before her eyes.

"Stop!" she shouted, startling her teammates.

She held out her ring.

"Headcage!"

Tendrils of red light extended from the ring, touching the foreheads of each of the Seekers, and enveloping their heads in bluish-green glows.

Everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief as the mental pressure was relieved.

They jogged a little to catch up with their Spiral guide, then followed him around a few more corners before arriving in a vast circular central room. In the very centre was a cylindrical altar, ringed by Spirals, including Wind and Shauna. With her back to the entrance was Shauna, and opposite her was Wind. They, and the circle of Silent Soldiers, had their hands on the altar, which seemed to be the source of the malevolence and chaos that permeated the Temple.

Shauna lifted her hands off the altar.

"Excellent! The murder of these powerful Seekers should generate enough chaos to break through the seals and free our Lord!"

Dante stepped in front of the group as the Spirals turned to face them.

"You couldn't defeat us before. And now we've got more Seekers and more power."

"Remember this?" he lifted his hand, which glowed with green energy.

Shauna laughed sharply.

"In this Temple of Chaos, Dante Vale, you slaves of order stand no chance!"

"NULLCURSE!"

The orb of dark energy exploded where Dante had been standing mere moments ago, leaving a sizable crater on impact.

"ATTACK!" Shauna shrieked.

"PSIKOFEN!" four of the Silent Soldiers shouted.

"DARK PHARAOH!" two more called.

"NIGHLURKER!" cried another two.

Two more pulled out their amulets.

"SLITHERFANG!"

John paled.

"Uh oh."

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked.

"Slitherfang is the Titan associated with Apophis, like how Harlekin is associated with Drakkon. This is a Temple of Apophis. We may not be able to banish them here."

"They're rivalled by Ra-Tet, right?"

"Yes, Ra-Tet," John said absently, as he twirled his blade. "Legendary Titan of the Sun. Ra's personal Titan, like how Demigorgan was the Betrayer's personal Titan. He's probably still with him, hence lost for the millennia since."

The last two Silent Soldiers produced their amulets.

"LONGNECK!"

Two giant beasts with feline bodies and long, scaly reptilian necks materialised. They flicked their forked tongues across their lips, as though anticipating a meal. Their mouths dripped toxic green fluid that sizzled when it touched the ground.

Dante quickly scanned the creatures.

"Longneck," the Holotome intoned.

"Attack: 4. Defence: 5. Type: Hecto-Titan Warrior. Size: Large. Special Abilities: Toxic Spit."

Dante smiled, producing his own amulets.

"If you insist on doing this the hard way…Come out and play, CALIBAN! METAGOLEM!"

"Bring it on, BASELAIRD! LINDORM!" Lok shouted.

"Fight with us, SABRIEL! SORCERELL!" Sophie called.

"Teach them a lesson, KING BASILISK! KILTHANE!" Zhalia snarled.

"Even the odds, VIGILANTE! DULLAHAN!" Den called.

"Make them tremble, ANTEDELUVIAN! JERICHO!" Harrison shouted.

"_Certa bonum certamen_, SEASHADOW! XUANWU!" John barked.

"Enlighten them, DESPOT (A/N New Titan)! GLADIUS!" Kevin roared.

Alongside the silver-armoured sword-wielding gladius, there stood a humanoid figure wearing a black cloak and cowl, with a plate of scale mail on his chest over the red garments beneath his cloak. He carried a carved mahogany cane in his left hand, with a gold snake curling around the tip, and a longsword in his right.

"Despot," Dante's Holotome intoned. "Attack: 5. Defence: 5. Type: Draco-Titan Sorcerer. Special Abilities: Seize Control. Toxin Blast."

Shauna laughed sharply.

"One more surprise for you, Seekers. Wind!"

A cruel smile flickered across the Seeker's eyes. He produced an amulet that John and Kevin seemed to recognise and be horrified at.

"That-that's…" Kevin stuttered.

"The amulet of Sha, the Legendary Titan of the Desert! The personal Titan of Set!" John exclaimed.

Shauna cackled again, as a lean, muscular, horse-sized greyhound-like creature materialised in front of Wind. It was coated in shiny reddish grey fur, and the triangular pointed ends of its forked tongue writhed like tentacles, as though they had a life of their own.

"It was supposed to be lost after Horus killed Set!" John cried.

"It _was_ lost," Shauna said, "until we found it. And now you shall be the first to taste its power in millennia!"

"There's no way to kill that thing!" Kevin cried, "Especially not in a temple like this!"

Wind produced two more amulets, and two bandage-bound Titans materialised in front of him: Thornment and Kopesh.

Shauna laughed viciously once more. "DESTROY! DERVISH, ASH, LILITH THE QUEEN!"

Surprisingly enough, Metagolem went down first.

Sha lunged with surprising force, while glowing with red and black energy. It slammed into the Litho-Titan so powerfully that he was banished in one hit.

Panic flashed in Dante's eyes as he realised how significant this threat was.

"We need to take out that Titan!" he shouted, casting a Touchram at Sha.

The Titan shugged it off.

"I'm not sure you can!" John shouted back, as he dodged a Psikofen's chains.

John backed into the walls of the pyramid as the Titan advanced.

He dodged as the Titan swung at him, then ran around the Psikofen, so as to get behind it.

The Titan turned to face John, and swung again, but then a blade sprouted from its chest.

Seashadow emerged from the darkness clinging to the wall, both hands on his blade.

Psikofen, strangely enough, wasn't banished from the killing blow. The moment the blade connected, a coating of red-black chaos energy had flickered into existence around the Titan. Seashadow's blade punched straight through it, though. The energies of chaos swirled around the wound.

John readied his own blade to strike again, knowing that the special enchantments on it should enable it to deal a lot more damage to the chaos-enhanced Titans.

Then, from the shadows, two Nighlurkers emerged, clamping their jaws down on the arms of Seashadow.

John's eyes widened in alarm, as the Psikofen recovered.

Before he realised it, the weighted chains of the Titan were swinging straight at him.

John barely had time to parry, and his blade was consequently ensnared in the chains.

He cursed.

"Xuanwu! Help!"

The lumbering Titan's snake head turned towards him. Xuanwu was duelling one of the Longnecks. Several chunks of ice lay on the ground. As Xuanwu's turtle head continued exhaling frost, the energies of chaos repelled the ice from the Titan's body.

The snake head released a blast of purple energy, which struck the Psikofen, slowing down its movements considerably.

Its arms fell lethargically to its sides, freeing John's sword from the grip of its chains, and the Titan feebly attempted to swing at him, but it was barely able to move the weights on the chains about ten centimetres.

John drove his blade into Psikofen's gut. The symbols on the blade glowed, and even appeared to project themselves holographically in 3D.

Cracks of light spiderwebbed over the Titan's body, and in the radius around it, chaos was repelled.

The Titan was banished back to its amulet, but then, an extra-powerful Nullcurse from a Silent Soldier slammed into Seashadow, returning him to his amulet. The resulting blast of chaos didn't seem to faze the two Nighlurkers, and the symbols on John's cloak glowed and projected, warding it off.

"NO!" John cried.

He lunged with surprising force, sending his blade through one of the Nighlurkers and banishing it.

He wheeled to face the other, but it faded into the shadows.

He next turned his attention to the Silent Soldier who had taken out his Titan.

"Raaargh! HYPERSTRIDE!"

A lucky Nullcurse actually managed to hit him as he pounced, but the symbols on his robe glowed again, protecting him from the blast.

His foot slammed into the Silent Soldier's forehead, sending him to the ground and knocking him out.

Meanwhile, Sha had mauled Dullahan into oblivion and was chasing Harrison around the room, as Wind and Shauna came at Dante.

Both glowed with the reddish-black energies of chaos.

"Ready for round two, Dante Vale?" she hissed.

Dante's expression hardened.

Without speaking, he raised his fists, and got into a combat stance.

The three of them stood in a triangle. Dante's eyes shifted between his two opponents.

He was fairly sure the ring would still easily overpower them, but his opponents were, as he had noted during their earlier engagement, incredibly skilled and powerful. He would have to be even more careful than before.

Shauna and Wind studied him carefully. The tension in the air was electric.

He focused his will on the ring, sending green energy out from it, which formed a gauntlet around his forearm.

Too late, Shauna realised what he was doing.

With an angry, bestial snarl, she lunged at him.

Of course, it was no use. He had reached so deep into the well of power that was the Ring of Behemoth that when he punched her as she approached, she shot away from him like a baseball from a batter.

She smashed painfully into the meaty side of the Longneck Caliban was duelling.

Despite the slashes the Titan's body was scored with, the Longneck had not been banished. Toxic green blood, even more acidic than the spit it hurled at Caliban, dripped to the ground from its wounds.

Caliban capitalised on the distraction, going straight for the neck…well, the section of the neck closest to the head.

He drove his sword through it while the Titan was stunned. The blade went in through its neck and came out behind its head.

This proved to be the last straw. The Titan crumpled to the ground, and returned to the Silent Soldier who had summoned it.

Caliban dove and rolled as said Silent Soldier sent an Augerfrost towards him, but as he got up, Shauna recovered from the trauma of crashing into Longneck, and blasted Caliban into oblivion with a Nullcurse.

Elsewhere, Lindorm, after having knocked out four of the Silent Soldiers (who had been, up till then, occupied with trying to bring him down), was finally blasted back to his amulet by a lucky shot from one of the others. On the other hand, Lok, Cherit and Baselaird had their hands full with Dervish and Ash.

Lok got the strangest sense of déjà vu as Baselaird swung at Ash, only to have his strike pass through the Titan without effect. Dervish sent a dirty green beam of paralysing toxins at him.

"Cherit, take Ash down!"

"Aye!"

Ash prepared to finish the paralysed Baselaird, but was blasted in the back by Cherit, who subsequently collapsed in exhaustion. Ash's form glowed red and black, and then it ignited, but she did not return to her amulet.

Lok extended his hand at his Titan, crying, "Formbreak!"

He was getting proficient with that spell. Being forced to use it to save Sophie's life once helped.

The toxic green glow faded, and the Titan lunged at Dervish, bringing his sword – and his entire weight – down on it. The violent impact banished it back to Shauna, as she ran to re-join Wind in battling Dante.

Lok swung the Willblade at Ash thrice. As he did, blue light extended from the ring of Tao to his sword hand. Three blades of extra-bright blue energy slashed into her, finally proving enough to banish the Titan.

Meanwhile, Sophie and Sorcerell each duelled a Dark Pharaoh, with the hostile Titans hurling dark orbs of energy at them, and Sorcerell returning fire with tongues of flame, while Sophie blasted her opponent with several choice spells.

Sabriel duelled Lilith the Queen. Sabriel easily dodged the bony spikes that extended from the horrible Titan's palms, but Lilith's flight allowed her to evade Sabriel's blade, despite the latter's quickness.

Sophie wheeled as the Dark Pharaoh she was battling blasted the ground in front of her.

But before she could return fire, an orange, scaly form wrapped itself around her. Panic flashed in her eyes, but her struggling against it was in vain, as it began to constrict her.

"Lok!" she gasped, rapidly running out of air.

"HELP!"

Lok and Baselaird turned their attention to the Casterwill leader.

"I'm coming, Sophie!" Lok shouted, as he sprinted towards the battle, Willblade at the ready.

Sorcerell tried to help, but when her magic blasts impacted the Titan, it glowed black-red, and shrugged the attack off. The Dark Pharaoh she had been facing, however, capitalised on this distraction, and blasted her in the back. Sorcerell crashed to the ground next to Sophie and Slitherfang, and the serpent clamped its fangs, poison coursing through them, down on the fallen Titan. The acidic venom disintegrated her, returning Sorcerell to her amulet.

Sabriel ran to help Sophie, but was almost struck down by Lilith. The Titan swooped down from the side, the spikes in her palm fully extended, and Sabriel barely managed to parry both of them. She was about to follow up with a jab to the chest, but Lilith zipped away…

…right into the line of fire of an energy blast from the Willblade. The crescent of blue energy slammed Lilith out of the air and into the ground.

"Baselaird!" Lok shouted, "Shooting Slash!"

The Titan proceeded execute this order, and the wave of energy he unleashed shattered the shield of chaos energy around Shauna's Titan, finishing her off.

The Dark Pharaoh who had shot Sorcerell down turned his attention to Lok, but the Seeker dodged the orbs of energy, running to his girlfriend's aid.

"Baselaird, help Sabriel keep the Dark Pharaohs off!"

The Titan grunted in response, catching one of the energy orbs on his shield.

Lok unleashed a barrage of energy slashes, but John was right. The dark magic of the place seemed to cling very strongly to Slitherfang. The coat of chaos energy around it seemed to have barely faded at all.

Lok lunged, bringing the tip of the sword down on the Titan's head. There was a brilliant flash of energy, and he was blasted away. He crashed painfully to the ground a distance away.

Sabriel and Baselaird were significantly less effective against the Dark Pharaohs than they had been against Lilith the Queen. The ranged flying Titans were nigh-impossible for them to hit, but they kept up a pretty good defence too. Sabriel dodged and weaved nimbly, and Baselaird used his shield well. Each pair would be kept busy for quite a while.

"Help…" Sophie choked out, her voice weak and strangled. Her face was turning blue.

Time was running out.

Lok forced himself to his feet. He could see long fractures running down the sides of the shield, with their source at the point his blade had impacted it.

It flickered weakly. The Willblade was designed as the ultimate anti-chaos measure. If anything could stop Slitherfang, it was the Willblade.

He looked again. The point of impact looked rather weak. If he could just pull it off again...

"Lok…" Sophie's voice was so weak, it was practically a whisper.

Steel and fire flashed in his eyes. He had to do it. It was his only chance to save Sophie. His princess.

_Time to be the Champion of the Casterwills_, he thought to himself, running towards the serpent.

"Hyperstride!" he catapulted himself into the air.

The serpent lunged at him, but he was too quick. He sailed past the creature's jaws, but as he came down, he drove his blade into the same spot he had just now, this time shouting, "DRAGONFIST!"

The blade glowed a brilliant blue, with tendrils of azure energy flowing from the ring of Tao into it, as it punched through the shield, and the serpent's head. Chaos energy flowed to fill the gaps, but the blade kept it away.

With a painful screech, the Titan was banished back to its amulet.

"Finish them off, Raijin the Thunderbolt!" Lok shouted, as he ran over to his girlfriend.

The warrior Titan surged into the air, lightning arcing from it to the two Dark Pharaohs. This wasn't enough to take them out, but it pinned them down and allowed Raijin to close the distance to deliver the slashes from the electrically-charged blade he wielded which did the trick.

"Sophie!" Lok crouched down beside her.

She was gasping for air, still out of breath from nearly being crushed to death by the serpentine Titan.

"Sophie, are you alright?"

He took her hand in his, and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry," he said tenderly. "I almost let you die."

She gazed at him lovingly. A weak smile flickered across her face.

"Don't be," she whispered.

"You saved my life again, Lok."

"But I—"

She lifted a finger to his lips.

"Shh. You did your best. And you saved me. So give me a kiss, my hero."

Lok sighed, and smiled, and then he obliged her.

She smiled.

"Everfight," she said, glowing with energy.

She got to her feet, but was still a little shaky. Lok stood up and grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

"Thanks," she smiled.

The battle raged on around them.

A Silent Soldier caught Xuanwu from behind with a Nullcurse, and Longneck had finished him off while he was recovering from the explosion.

Den and Vigilante fought Kopesh and Thornment. The boy countered Kopesh's dark spells with his own, neither making much progress against the other. Thornment and Vigilante were similarly locked in a stalemate. The latter sliced through the thorny vines of the former with ease, but the sheer volume of said vines made it impossible for him to close in and do any real damage.

Titan and Seeker backed into each other, each attacking their opponent, but in vain.

"Armourbrand!" Den deflected another spray of acidic black sludge glowing with reddish chaos energy.

"Aaaargh, this isn't going anywhere!" he complained.

Vigilante seemed to hear him, and made a telepathic suggestion.

Den's eyes lit up.

"Of course! Powerbonded Vigilante, activate Cindercloak!"

The Titan's energies curled around him like a second skin, imbuing him with his skills and abilities.

Den pounced, blades flashing, on Kopesh first. The next blast of sludge missed Den, and hit Thornment, who was surging her thorny vines forth into the position that had been occupied by Vigilante moments ago, instead.

Den slashed Kopesh across the chest, sending him stumbling back, and then finished him off with a series of quick jabs to the chest. He whirled around just in time to slice through the incoming vines. In a whirlwind of blades, he drove them back, creating enough space for him to launch at Boltflare at her. The heat of the blast ignited the vines, and its concussive force knocked her back, dazing her long enough for Den to finish her off with a stab to the chest.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Zhalia were leading Gladius, Antedeluvian, Jericho, Kilthane, Despot and King Basilisk in a battle royale against the rest of the Silent Soldiers and their Titans.

Despot swung his blade at a Psikofen, who parried with its chains, ensnaring the blade. It yanked Kevin's Titan closer, but Despot had planned exactly for this. He extended his cane, such that as he closed, the tip touched the forehead of the Psikofen.

The golden snake at its tip glowed crimson, as did the eyes of the Titan, who subsequently proceeded to attack its former allies.

Zhalia dodged a Nullcurse from a Silent Soldier, grabbing his arm, and pinning him against herself.

Before he could swing his free hand at her, she hovered hers over his face.

"Simplemind!"

Red light flowed from her ring, and the Silent Soldier's gaze turned vacant.

"Your friends will betray you," she insisted.

"Not if I can help it," the Silent Soldier snarled. The chaos energies seemed to have weakened his trust and loyalty. He was thoroughly committed to assaulting his former allies.

Jericho was tanking most of the shots from the Silent Soldiers, easily absorbing the chaos spells. In fact, they seemed to be making the dark Titan even stronger. He would also swoop down from time to time, scattering them with the threat of impalement.

The Nighlurker that John had failed to defeat was currently harassing Kilthane, while Antedeluvian and King Basilisk swooped down to attack the Psikofens. Zhalia cringed as Psikofen's chains ensnared King Basilisk, bringing her majestic Titan to the ground, and exposing him to assault from the Silent Soldiers. He was banished shortly after.

Gladius duelled the Longneck that Xuanwu had failed to defeat. Longneck spat toxins at him, as he dodged and blasted in return.

A beam of energy caught Longneck in the side, sending it tottering, and Gladius, capitalising on its distraction, lunged at it, whirling his swords. In a flurry of blades, the Titan was decapitated and banished.

Kevin fought Slitherfang. He'd tried his classic Mindbreak first, but the chaos around the Titan deflected it. He switched to using his more conventional sword then. It was not as powerful as the Willblade, but the enchantments on it ensured that its strikes still left their mark on the chaos shield around the Titan. It had the further advantage of not reacting cataclysmically enough with the sheer concentration of chaos around Slitherfang to cause any damage to Kevin.

Slowly, he weathered down the thick coat of chaotic malevolence that protected the Titan.

Meanwhile, the Silent Soldier Zhalia had tricked sent an unexpected Nullcurse in the direction of his former allies, breaking their ranks. The Psikofen Despot had controlled chained Nighlurker, distracting it long enough for Kilthane to deliver a mighty blow, strong enough to pierce the shield and banish the Titan. Despot himself blasted Slitherfang with toxins magically produced from the tip of his staff, distracting the serpent long enough for Kevin to drive his sword through a point where the chaos shield was particularly weak. His blade went straight into the serpent, and it exploded in a brilliant flash of light, returning to its owner.

Zhalia turned her attention to the Psikofen that had taken her King Basilisk down. It was too preoccupied with the main battle to notice her approach until she shouted, "Shadowspeed! Venomhand!"

It didn't stand a chance against her toxic barrage.

As she threw her last punch, its chaos shield evaporated altogether. She finished it off with a single Touchram.

Antedeluvian's sword had been ensnared by Psikofen, but as they struggled, Zhalia launched another Touchram into the Psikofen's back. The blast staggered it, allowing Antedeluvian to gain the upper hand. He yanked Psikofen towards himself, and kicked the Titan in the face as it approached. While it was dazed, Antedeluvian delivered a series of vicious sword strikes across its torso, the last of which dispelled the Titan.

The rest of the Titans and Seekers, after having vanquished their opponents, split into two groups. One ploughed through the Silent Soldiers. The others ran to Harrison's aid, in his battle against Sha.

And not a moment too soon: Harrison tripped and stumbled. He barely had the time to roll over to watch Sha lunge towards him, before it slammed messily into him…

…or almost slammed into him, anyway. Den, still in Cindercloak mode, lunged, putting his blade under Sha's throat and yanking the Titan back. Its jaws snapped barely an inch away from Harrison's hands, which he had thrown up instinctively in desperation to protect himself, as its head jerked back.

The Legendary Titan slammed its elbow into Den, shaking him.

It whirled about, and exhaled a blast of desert, which slammed into Den with the force of a sandstorm, returning Vigilante to his amulet and sending the boy flying.

Immediately afterwards, a crescent of blue force sliced into its side, as Lok and Sophie ran towards it.

Wind and Shauna were still battling Dante. The power of Behemoth still easily outperformed the chaotic enhancements the temple had granted the Spirals, but that was only when charged to full capacity. For now, Wind and Shauna's vicious assault was too rapid for Dante's punches to charge up enough to break through their shields, but the ring countered their own attacks, resulting in an extended stalemate.

Shauna scanned the battlefield. All of their Titans were down, except Sha, and even he was being mobbed by most of the enemy forces. As for their Silent Soldiers, they were getting beaten into a pulp. It was clear they wouldn't be able to defeat their opponents and take their own sweet time. They had no choice; only one chance to win here.

"Fireport!" she cried, as Dante's fist ploughed through where she had been standing. Her sudden disappearance caught him off-guard, and he stumbled. Wind punched his shadow (which, fortunately for the Spirals, fell in the right direction), and chaotic red, black and purple energies surged forth, seizing Dante and causing him to cry out in pain.

"Dante!" Zhalia cried.

Shauna materialised next to the central altar of the Temple of Apophis and laid her hands on it.

She smiled as she felt the chaos responding to her. The good thing about it was that fighting to stop it would just increase it. She simply focused the excess chaos energy generated by all that violence, added a bit of her own, and the Temple was ready. An ominous hum filled the room.

Shauna's smile widened. Only one thing remained.

"Wind! The sacrifice! Now!"

Wind's eyes lit up. He understood immediately.

Zhalia bombarded him with spells, springing closer with Hyperstride, but he ignored her. Soon enough, none of this would matter.

A tentacle of darkness extended from his hand, scooping up the Silent Soldier who Zhalia had Simpleminded.

Wind launched the poor guy at the altar, as Zhalia's Venomhand connected.

"Spellparry!" John deflected Sha's jaws, then realised what was going on.

Horror and despair filled his eyes.

"NO!"

There was a brilliant flash of red light, as the Silent Soldier released a dying scream of anguish.

An effeminate laugh, discernibly male but neither masculine nor feminine, echoed through the pyramid. Despite its emasculation, it reverberated with dark power.

Waves of chaos washed over the Seekers.

Sha roared, repelling its assailants.

And then, the blast.

The entire pyramid was destroyed in an explosion of chaos and malevolence. Everyone's Titans were banished (except, of course, Sha), and they barely had enough time to shield themselves before crashing painfully into the desert sand.

Lok and Dante struggled to their feet, and proceeded to help their respective love interests up.

"NO!" John howled again.

Everyone turned to look at the pyramid, or what was left of it.

There, hovering above it, was a massive serpent. It was even longer and thicker than Quetzalcoatl. Its scales were black as a nightmare, and wisps of chaos curled from its skin.

Apophis the Serpent.

It unhinged its massive jaw, and roared. Gazing into its maw was like looking into the eyes of a dead man. There was nothing inside except an empty, black void: pure chaos.

Despair and apathy, the same kind of emptiness, began creeping into the hearts of the Seekers, as they backed away from the monstrous Nullifier.

And sitting atop it was a figure they were all too familiar with.

He released another awful cackle as Apophis swooped towards the Seekers.

The Second Betrayer.

**A/N Wow, I feel really bad about leaving you guys hanging here. I probably won't be publishing the next chapter for about a month, because I've got some pretty important stuff to take care of. Oh well. Hang tight guys :).**


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